Dream Catcher
by Luna the Dragon
Summary: Rumors of a powerful artifact having appeared again result in a series of unexplained, tragic events, such as Kyuubi's attack on Konoha. We all knew Naruto couldn't escape fate, and the veiled war he's drawn into along with Neji, of all people, proves it.
1. The Games Begin

This happens to be my second fic. My idea for this story came from an anime that a friend of mine recommended I watch. I hope you enjoy what I feel will turn out to be an exciting tale filled with drama, action, and the occasional bit of romance, of course.

**Disclaimer:** I unfortunately do not own Naruto. Don't we all wish we did?

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Chapter 1- The Games Begin**

Shrill screams and ferocious growls filled the air. The sky was clear that night, and the moon cast its eerie glow among the Hidden Leaf Village and its attacker. His tails lashed, toppling trees, smashing mountains, and forming tsunamis that crashed to the shores. The shinobi of the village desperately fought to eradicate the strong force, evacuating homes, tending to the casualties while simultaneously giving all they had to hold their large opponent back. It was clear that only one person could stop this destructive force.

An explosion of white smoke engulfed a section of the surrounding forest, catching the attention of the nine-tailed fox. The demon smirked as he assessed the ninja standing before him atop a giant toad, revealing rows of deadly fangs as he stilled his movements. He faced the Fourth Hokage while the ninja below scrambled to clear the battle field. Gamabunta flicked his bulbous tongue, tensing for what he thought would be a fatal fight to the finish.

"I suppose that there's a reason that the Uchiha has not accompanied you," the blonde said, his stance relaxed. One arm rested casually by his side while the other was placed on his hip.

"The bastard didn't want to be around after giving his last order." Kyuubi snorted in distaste. The red tails behind him swished once, sending a great gust of wind through the surviving foliage. "He knew I would tear him to shreds for this." The fox shot a sly look at the Fourth. "And what of your girl?" Kyuubi questioned, his voice resonating, filling the hollows of the Hokage's bones. "Surely she would not hide during a battle."

"No," the man confirmed, donning a sly look of his own, "she wouldn't, which is why I ordered her to stay in the hospital where she belongs right now."

"I can imagine that she is not pleased with your decision," the demon chuckled in his deep voice. He then broke out into full blown laughter, his body trembling with mirth. "I hope you are aware that you could never hope to defeat me without her," the red fox mocked. "After all, no mere human could hope to defeat a being of near limitless chakra and strength."

The strongest shinobi of Konoha straightened his stance, instantly losing his casual demeanor. "You're right," he agreed, "I could never hope to defeat you." The ominous tone of voice placed the Hokage's opponent on edge. He backed away in fear when the Fourth quickly created the hand signs for a jutsu he recognized. What was the idiot doing? Surely he knew that this would result in his own death. Kyuubi glared, staring into the blue eyes with a determined gleam in their depths. How the beast loathed the ones that were always willing to sacrifice everything for others; they were always the dangerous ones.

"But I sure as hell can make you wish I did."

It was then and there that one baby boy had saved the Hidden Leaf Village, and possibly the whole world, completely unaware that not only he had done so, but that in time . . .

Naruto Uzumaki would come to do it again.

_Xo 12 Years Later oX_

It was just about the right time again. If he was correct, then five to six other shinobi would join him in a possibly fatal war to obtain the ability to have one wish granted. The last war ended in disaster, indeed, but this one would be worth it. He had trained long and hard for this right.

"Hear my plea."

Straying strands of a brunette's hair flew about a pale face.

"Offer your flesh for me to control; I will offer my fate into your hands."

The snapping of cloth echoed in the empty, abandoned section of the grounds.

"Should I be deemed worthy of possessing the untouchable, grant me your alliance."

A Summoning Circle slowly spread beneath his feet, the black symbols faintly glowing an eerie green.

"I possess the skills of an elite and a sufficient amount of chakra to sustain your form."

Blood pooled within his hand, and slowly slid to his finger. He used it to mark a straight line on his forehead, directly below the curse mark symbolizing a bird sealed in its cage. He plunged his hands to the ground in the center of the seal which flashed in response.

"Come forth to me!"

Pale, pearly eyes flew open as released chakra flowed freely about him in waves. The whole building was illuminated with neon green light.

He wore a confident smirk. _I have drawn the strongest beast of all. There is no doubt concerning that._

An explosion rocked the grounds of the residing clan, shattering glass and sending the culprit to a heap on the ground. He sat up, ignoring the sharp pains in his back.

"What _**was**_ that?"

With strained breathing, the Master quickly ran though the compound, searching for the source of the explosion. Coming across his own sleeping quarters, he found a splintered door that was jammed so that he could not open it. Pounding it once, he managed to topple it breaking off a section of the wall as well. A picture frame fell to the floor, the crunch of glass barely occupying his mind once he caught sight of the mess before him. Among his bed, which was split in half, and the other debris sat a girl that appeared no older than him in age. Moonlight shone through the whole in the ceiling lighting her fiery red hair which shielded his view of her naked, rosy flesh. Piercing, golden eyes regarded him casually as she crossed her legs and leaned back, further exposing her vulnerability.

"Perhaps my master is a pervert," she stated, her voice clear and confident, with a hint of sarcasm, "since he has neglected to summon my garments with me."

Said Master blushed heavily, averting his gaze and glaring at the destroyed door at his side.

The female cradled her head in her hands and pouted. "What luck I have. My master is the silent type as well."

Neji Hyuuga was **_not_** happy.

XoXoXoXoXoXoXo

_He was in unimaginable pain. He could barely register his surroundings. The only thing he could process was the endless spasms of pain that shook his body as a foot collided with his unprotected stomach over and over and over again until he had lost count, and he was barely conscious. Liquid graced his dirty face; saliva most likely, sliding down his cheek. He dared not remove it. If he did, then the punishment would be much worse. Then, the harsh words came._

_"Monster!"_

_"Demon!"_

_"Murderer!"_

_He curled into a ball, shielding his ears and body from the beatings delivered by a few thrill seekers. They all wanted a piece of the demon child. But who was that? Not him of course. He had never killed a soul! He loved his village too much, even if his village did not love him. It was that place he was born after all. Maybe he had done something horrible in his past life that was carried on into this life or something of that nature. Then, he was the demon child after all, wasn't he?_

_Waiting for his attackers to leave, he slowly stood up, preparing to crawl home if he had to. The ragged boy stumbled, clutching his stomach barely protected by a torn black shirt that seemed larger than his already skinny body. Layers of dirt were caked in his tangled blonde hair. His eyes were a dull blue, bordering on gray, and one was half closed and bruised with blood trickling down the lid. He had to get home._

_The heavens decided to make further mockery of him. Steadily, it began to rain making his journey through the dark streets that much harder. He could barely walk as it was. Maybe all existing life hated him since some unforgiving tree decided to block his path with its root. He tripped, his body falling into a puddle, soaking his back. His vision was trained on the cloudy night sky. Slowly, everything faded and blurred around him. Maybe he could sleep forever. Then he wouldn't have to worry about being in pain anymore._

_Quick footsteps entered his delicate ear. He only stirred when the rain seemed to stop falling. Maybe the heavens decided to have mercy on him. He slowly revealed his blue eyes to the brunette hovering above him, a scar slashed across the bridge of his nose. Cancel that; he was in hell already. _

_The lips above him moved. He was saying something, but he couldn't hear what. It was too faint. Black disturbed his vision again, but behind the darkness of his eyelids, he was granted the sight of a fearsome beast, one who growled revealing sharp fangs and possessed some red form of energy that made up its body. _

_". . .to."_

_". . .ruto."_

"Naruto!"

Naruto groaned as he returned to the waking world, his lashes slowly separating to reveal sapphire blue eyes. His alarm clock for the day stood beside his bed, annoyed and with hands strategically placed on his hips in the form feminine fury. It really did kill the male attributes of a guy when you picked up women's habits.

"Naruto! Hurry up already!" Iruka complained, frowning at the ruffled appearance of his student.

He finally sat up, rubbing his eyes and yawning while the academy teacher continued his rant.

"It's about time you wake up," he said. "It's rude to make your fellow classmates wait, you know."

"Good morning to you, too, Iruka-sensei," Naruto grumbled.

"Don't 'good morning' me, Naruto," he snapped. "You're running late for class and -,"

"Time for some ramen, then!" Naruto interrupted mid-rant.

"Hello, I was saying something!" Iruka yelled, the vein on his temple throbbing noticeably. "Fine then, see if I come by your place to warn you again if this is how things turn out!"

Iruka disappeared in a poof of smoke, leaving Naruto to his own devices. The academy student scratched his head curiously. _Iruka-sensei seems wound a little tighter than normal today. _He shook it off as nothing, preparing himself breakfast - a cup of ramen noodles, of course - and dressing in his usual orange jumper.The blonde finally deemed himself ready for the day. If Iruka caught him still outside of the academy, he'd probably clobber him.

Naruto walked through the streets of the village, his hands stuffed inside of his pockets. He curiously watched masked figures dart across his path toward the hospital. In their possession was a limp body, covered in blood. He shuttered a little, wondering what happened. _It's probably nothing. Some ninja most likely got hurt in the line of duty. _

He found himself bored to pieces inside of class two hours later. Tapping his fingers randomly on his desk, he watched the clouds roll by outside of the window as Iruka droned on about "cattra" or something like that. A few rows ahead of him, Sakura Haruno nodded her head animatedly as she took notes, occasionally glancing at Sasuke Uchiha. He growled low in his throat once he realized that every other girl, with exception to Hinata Hyuuga, took part in the same activity. What was so good about the bastard anyway?

The blonde sighed, resting his head on his hand as his attention was again caught by the clouds. It was no wonder now why Shikamaru did it; it was addicting, especially when you were bored. He really wasn't in the mood to cause mischief today. Not after the dream he had last night. It wasn't the sight of his past that troubled him but rather the monster that remained fresh in his mind before he awoke. What was it? And what about the masked figures that were carrying the body earlier that morning?

Realizing that the rest of the class was leaving, he assumed that they were going to have another weapons lesson outside. He blindly followed, leaving the chatting students and fan-girls crowding their Uchiha behind.

"Naruto!"

The blonde paused in his walk, realizing that Shikamaru had called his name. He wondered why the Nara would want to speak to him vaguely. He continued down the hall to the training grounds right outside of the academy for weapon's practice, his classmate joining him at the same pace.

"You've been uncharacteristically quiet all morning," he ventured, receiving no response in return. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at the blue-eyed idiot, who continued walking as if he wasn't there. Usually the boy would be willing to kill for attention, and now that he had it from someone, he was ignoring them.

"Hey, did you hear me?" He asked, stepping in front of Naruto and blocking his path while running a hand through his short ponytail.

"We're gonna' be late if you keep stopping to try and interrogate me," he answered, side-stepping the Nara and continuing down the hall.

His "stalker" frowned. Since when did Naruto ignore someone and use sophisticated words such as interrogate. He was even more troublesome now that he was confusing the hell out of him. "What's up with you, today?" Shikamaru tried again, blocking his path once more.

"I'm fine," Naruto said, gaining a foxy grin in response. He stopped short, his mouth slightly agape in a small 'o' when he saw the figure coming down the hall. It looked to be a relative of Hinata from his class. He had the same pearly white eyes as she did - they were kind of creepy in his opinion - and his chestnut brown hair was tied into a low ponytail. His clothes were a little more on the baggy side but they seemed to fit him perfectly. What caught his attention was the red marking on his forehead peeking out from under his protector; it resembled three round feathers almost, that were connected to each other in the middle and spiraled out like a star. He stumbled back when he was granted a glimpse of a red-headed girl that was obediently following him. But as quickly as he had seen her, she disappeared. The boy entered a different classroom without acknowledging the presence of the younger students.

"Hey, Uzumaki," Shikamaru spoke up. "Don't tell me you want a piece of that Hyuuga kid _**and **_Sasuke."

He coughed violently at the question. "W-What do you mean by that?" Naruto questioned. "Who would want a "piece" of a guy like him?"

"He's Neji Hyuuga of the Hyuuga clan. He has a handsome face, strong body, and a great mind. He has zero enemies, and if you ask any girl who she'd like to date, without including Sasuke of course, it would be Neji Hyuuga." Shikamaru smirked when he noticed that Naruto didn't deny wanting a piece of Sasuke.

"Do you mind listing the things that would include a _**male's**_ reason for wanting a piece of him?" Naruto requested, feeling slightly insulted.

"Those _**are**_ some of the reason's a male would want a piece of him," Shikamaru retorted. "If you swing that way, if anything. Most of the guys here just wanna' see if they can take him out. It's rumored that he's been undefeated for the longest time now. He _**is **_a Hyuuga after all."

When Naruto gained a sly look, Shikamaru knew that the normal Naruto was back. "If I didn't know better," he said, "I'd say _**you **_wanted a piece of Neji."

It was Shikamaru's turn to hack violently. "Geez, you're so troublesome! I don't partake in foolish rivalries or girl tendencies!" He insisted. "Besides," he said grimly, "something doesn't sit right with me about that guy."

The two boys finally made it outside where a few student's awaited the rest of the class and Iruka. If Shikamaru was suspicious, then maybe Naruto _**wasn't**_ seeing things.

XoXoXoXoXoXoXo

"Katsume," Neji called. In response to his call, the red haired girl joined him on the roof of the Ninja Academy, fully clothed in a red and golden kimono that complimented her hair and her eyes. The obi was orange in color and wrapped carefully around her seemingly delicate frame.

Neji monitored the activity below them while interrogating his summon. "Have you been able to identify any other summons or their partners."

"No," she answered, looking at him. "Or must I remind you that I don't have the ability to detect any remote summoning techniques?"

"That's right," the Hyuuga stated, remembering. "It's only the Kappa who will be able to detect such a thing, a dangerous opponent that can call themselves to the real world." He turned on his heel, clearly revealing his disappointment in his summoning by turning his back to her.

Katsume rolled her eyes before grinning widely and changing the subject. "I don't suppose you noticed that blonde boy who saw me," she said casually, examining her crimson, sharp, talon-like nails.

"What did you say?" Neji whirled around to face his servant, an astonished look on his face.

"Don't tell me you're deaf as well, Master," Katsume sighed, completely ignoring his question.

"That's absurd! No one should be able to see you, ninja or not!" Neji growled, accusingly.

"You wound me, Master," she stated dramatically, placing a hand over her heart. Donning a serious face, she corrected him. "However, you must not realize that whether I reveal myself or not, another summoner will, at the very least, be able to sense my presence."

"Impossible," he clipped out. "The blonde you are referring to is Uzumaki Naruto who has no talent whatsoever in the field of the ninja arts." Neji calmed himself again. "It would benefit us more to keep an eye on Sasuke Uchiha. One spawn from the Uchiha clan is more likely to call a powerful summon than a dead last such as Naruto." He glared at the female, daring her to say a word otherwise. She remained silent to his satisfaction. "Come on then," he beckoned. "Let's see for ourselves who else in this village has joined this silent war of ours."

"As you wish, Master," Katsume complied. She would play the Hyuuga's game for now. He was a haughty, conceited fool if he did not realize the potential the boy he deemed "dead last" possessed. Especially given the strong resemblance to another deceased ninja Naruto had. _I'll keep an eye on you for now Naruto Uzumaki. It would be a shame to have you die without even entering this war._

Katsume followed her summoner off of the roof who remained unaware of her new commitment against his command.

Meanwhile, at Ichiraku's Ramen Stand, our favorite ninja's favorite place to eat, piles of bowls stacked up into a leaning tower slowly, but surely.

Shikamaru shook his head over his first, half-empty bowl while sitting beside the world's most unpredictable ninja and his crazy eating habits. He should've known it was a mistake to offer lunch to Naruto, but he couldn't help it. All morning he kept wearing a pathetic look on his face, remained silent even when Sasuke tried to goad him into a verbal conflict, and actually managed to hit his target _**without**_ bragging or cheering. The other students must have taken it as a sign of the apocalypse or something of that nature.

"Hey," he called, annoyed and disgusted by the slurping ramen monster beside him. "Did you happen to hear about the incident that took place in the village this morning."

This abruptly stopped Naruto from stuffing his face. "I only saw these creepy masked men heading over to the hospital," he replied. "What was it about?"

"First of all, they're called ANBU. They're specialized ninja that are occasionally seen and often known for chasing down missing-nins that run away from their village."

Confused, Naruto pursued the concept. "And why are they assigned that?"

Shikamaru sighed at his classmates idiocy. "You don't pay attention at all in class, do you? Missing-nins carry the secrets of their village so in order to keep these secrets, the ANBU of a village is sent to destroy the threat. They wear masks to hide their identity." He left the topic on ANBU to rest since Naruto nodded his head in understanding. "Anyway, there was a murder."

Naruto gasped in horror.

"The victims were a normal family of five. My dad didn't tell me all of the details but he did tell me that there was no recognizable weapon. Reports say that the weapon may have been - they're not sure because of evidence from the wound - a long blade. It could have been a katana or a lance or something like that." Shikamaru watched his reflection rippling in the ramen bowl. "They're disturbed because it seemed completely random. They might even close the academy early so that -,"

A clatter on the counter disturbed the ramen and drew the Nara's attention to Naruto, whose bowl was overturned, the noodles and broth spilled over.

"So have they caught the guy or is he still running loose out there?" Naruto exclaimed, his hand trembling faintly.

"No," Shikamaru answered. "He's still running loose." His attention returned back to his own bowl. "They don't have any clues, no fingerprints or anything. The only evidence they have is from the wound itself. And there are no witnesses to the murder, either." He watched Naruto cautiously settle back into his seat, the ramen long forgotten. "Are you okay, Naruto?" He asked, looking unsettled as well.

"I'm okay," he answered, unnaturally pale, considering his normally tanned skin. He began to clean up the mess he made.

"Sorry," the Nara apologized. "This isn't proper discussion during lunch is it."

But he payed the apology no heed. The only things registering in his head were the images of the ANBU rushing the dead person to the hospital and the beast that ended his dream earlier that morning.

Later that afternoon, he wandered to the training grounds that would later belong to his team, ignoring Kiba who also inquired about his health - he wondered why the dog lover even cared - and all other activity around him. He sat on the grass, leaning against a tree and remembering all of the strife he was forced to endure and a passing comment that the Third Hokage had said to him. "I still think you're wrong old man."

_"Why? It can't be impossible!" _

_"Listen, Naruto," Sarutobi begged, sitting beside the ten-year-old on his bed. "You want to be able to change every single person's opinion about you, even if you don't know why they hate you **and** become the Hokage."_

_"What's wrong with that? I'll do that **and** save every single person out there from danger like no Hokage ever could before!"_

_"You don't get it Naruto," he pushed softly. "For each person you persuade otherwise, there's one that holds fast to their belief. For each life you save, there's one life that's lost." _

At dinner - he was at the ramen stand again - he reflected on his own understanding of it. He sometimes realized how his dream was short-lived and that indeed he couldn't change everyone's opinion of him or easily become Hokage. But that didn't mean he would standby and let that stop him. Sometimes, when something terrible happens, it's true that you can only save a handful of people, even when you try your best. But he didn't have to like that notion. As a rising ninja, it was his responsibility to protect the citizens of his home village, and no matter what, he would live by that.

"Goodnight you guys," he called to Ayame and Teuchi. They waved their goodnight and continued working, Ayame chatting amiably with her father.

"That boy sure is trying his best, isn't he?" The "old man" said, preparing another bowl.

"He sure is. He's getting better and better. I can feel it," Ayame agreed.

"Challenge him to something, and guaranteed he'll find some way to overcome it," he continued.

"He's a really good kid, isn't he?"

"I guess that's one way to put it," her father said, cautiously. Ayame, stopped cleaning the counter to observe him. "If that kid's not careful, he'll only be setting himself up for some serious disappointments in life."

Naruto froze when he saw that beast appear before him again. He fell to his knees clutching his head when images appeared in his closed eyes: a skeleton standing over a body slumped over and lifeless over a desk, the silhouette of a snake guarding the entrance to an underground lair, a masked boy with long hair in a bun, another boy in a desert village whose face was taken over by some demon, and a man holding a lance, observing the leaf village. He stood up shakily, his senses on high alert. He needed to get home. . . . _**now**_.

The streets were completely empty now that it was getting late, his hurried footsteps echoing about him. An ominous wind blew about him making him shiver. He looked up when another person's footsteps reached his ears. A boy with red hair watched him, black rings around his eyes making him resemble a raccoon. He stopped walking, and as a result, the boy walked towards him. A gourd on his back, leaked with sand and brushed his shoulder as he passed. He vaguely recognized the boy which startled him since the guy creeped him out.

Then he spoke. The raspy sound sent another bout shivers down his spine. The words uttered made his heart clench in panic. "You better hurry up and summon someone, or I'll personally see to your death."

He turned to address the hostile speaker, but he was already gone.

He finally made it back to his apartment, shaken and trembling like a leaf in a violent gale. Opening the door, he was surprised to find the lights on, illuminating the whole apartment. Iruka sat at his small table in the dining room, asleep with his arms folded and head cradled in between. Shutting the door, he quietly attempted to tiptoe pass the chuunin. One creak of a floor board ruined his efforts, for his teacher started instantly and caught him red-handed.

"What are you doing coming home late at this hour, mister?" Iruka immediately questioned, a frown marring his scarred face.

At this point, Naruto was hardly in the mood for a lecture. "What are you doing in _**my**_ home at this hour, _**sensei**_?"

Iruka immediately drew back as though burned. He looked away, staring at a random spot on the floor. "I was worried. You were acting strange all day, and now this," he whispered.

Naruto caught the comment and averted his own gaze in guilt.

"It's nothing," the dolphin said, straining a smile. "Anyway, I'm glad you made it home safely." The chair scraped against the floor as he left the table. Iruka grabbed the door by the handle and turned the knob slowly as if unsure about whether or not he wanted to leave. "I hope you're okay," he said finally, exiting the apartment with a mumbled goodnight.

Guilt now consuming him, Naruto, despite the dangers he could possibly endure and against his better judgement, left his apartment again. He silently leapt into the night, entering a clearing bathed in moonlight. A stream large enough to accommodate his body babbled and caught the moon's rays. Crickets chirped merrily, and a wolf cried to the great orb in the sky. The field was filled with sound that comforted him while in mental turmoil. The clearing he currently stood in was one of his favorite spots in all of the Hidden Leaf Village. It started when he was still a little boy. He would sneak away from the busy streets of Konoha and come to train or do his own thing. It was basically one of his hangouts ever since.

He sat under the outstretching branches of a tree and calmed himself, falling into a light sleep that he escaped from much later into the evening. Even after he left his favorite place, Naruto failed to notice the faint signs of a summoning circle etched into the bark of the tree that supported him for half of the night.

Even while most of the village lay asleep, others remained wide awake, wandering about the town, attending to night shifts, or giving spiritual entities grand tours of the village they lived in. Neji Hyuuga fell into the last of the three categories for the conscious.

"So what do you think?" Neji asked. He and his servant stood atop the head of one of the four Hokage, observing the sleeping Konoha below. "The view's pretty amazing from here, isn't it?"

"You're right," Katsume agreed, "it's a great spot. If we had come here first, we could've have completely avoided our trip through the village."

"But all you can see from up here is the village's layout. You can't get a sense of Konoha unless you experience the places in person."

"Maybe for some," the red-head stated, "but there's a bit more to my abilities than that of your own. Now, the outlying communities may be more difficult, but for example, I can tell you exactly how many leaves make up that tree over there," she bragged, pointing to a tree that stood an impressive distant away from their current location.

She placed a hand on the small of his back, and together, they jumped from the head of the Nidaime. They easily glided through the air under Katsume's influence towards the general direction of the Hyuuga estate.

"I do hope you are ready for this war, Master."

The young Hyuuga smirked in response to his summon's concern. "I've been prepared for this war for many years, now."

"I'm glad to hear you say that." Katsume sincerely smiled at him, lighting up her heart-shaped face. "Neji."

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I hope you enjoyed your first taste of "Dream Catcher" my good readers! Should you have any questions or comments of course, please review! 

Considering my terrible schedule, I will try my best to update whenever possible.


	2. Night of Fate

Alright! I decided to post chapter two early because it's my fic and I can do that. Please review. It really is a good motivator and I would love some advice before continuing this story.

**IMPORTANT NOTE**: This story is **_NOT_** a SasukexNaruto fic(unless you include their friendship). I'm making this clear now.

**I'd like to dedicate this fanfic to Demonkid who inspired me to write it with one of his own and who was my first reviewer.**

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**Chapter 2- Night of Fate**

His father told him a story once. At the time, he hadn't really believed in the tale. It was just something to assuage the dread that overtook him upon receiving the dreaded curse of the Hyuuga clan. Whenever he felt particularly in a fussy mood - like he did now due to a certain disobedient summon - he would think back to the story that played a major role in the war he was currently a part of.

It went something like this:

_There lived a poor, young man in the Land of Water known widely for his deceitful ways. It was said that as a child, he had been educated in the ways of a ninja, but had fallen out of favor with the Hidden Mist Village for his theft and an abundance of smaller crimes._

_One year, in the month of October, the man crept through the alleys of a small village, seeking food for himself when he spotted a young girl doing the same. She was a beautiful, young female with crystal blue eyes, silky, silvery-white hair that was currently in tangles, and pale skin smudged with dirt. The kimono she wore, though dirty and torn, was fit for nobility, and so he wondered why a girl, one with fine possessions no less, would sneak around like the scavenger __**he**__ was. _

_He decided that he could use this situation to his advantage. If she was caught, then it would seem as though he had been the one to prevent her theft, and so, he would be rewarded as such. Then he could issue a ransom for her return. Surely if she came from nobility then he would be paid a handsome sum in exchange for the girl. Immediately he yelled 'thief' and gestured toward the stand the girl was skulking around, but the girl was gone, much to his chagrin. He was scolded for disturbing the peace, any chances of stealing enough food for dinner gone now that people cautiously observed him. He stayed at a hotel that night and went to sleep hungry._

_He saw the very same girl while traveling along a deserted road the next day. She appeared before him so suddenly that he nearly slit her throat with a kunai knife hidden in his pouch. Her clothes had been restored to their clean, mended shape, and her body was devoid of the filth from the day before. He demanded to know why she blocked hus path to which she glared at him and shifted her stare._

_"My father wishes an audience with you," she told him. "He wishes to. . . . thank you for preventing a possible conflict, yesterday."_

_He realized that the girl was indeed missed and so he followed her, reveling in the idea of being rewarded well. She led him toward a pond and stopped at the water's edge, asking him to wait while she announced their arrival. He thought her mad - what normal person could build a home underwater? - until she vanished without a trace, leaving his corrupted mind reeling in shock. 'The girl isn't human!' He realized._

_Before he could contemplate escaping, his guide returned, a deep frown still etched on her childish face._

_"I'll take you now,"she ordered, giving him no room to argue. "Close your eyes."_

_He did so in fear for his life. After a while, he thought that the wench had done away with him, for he could feel his body drifting as though he were a feather in the breeze. But the mysterious spirit told him to open his eyes, and as soon as he did, he was met with the sight of a magnificent gate. It towered high above them, and he was sure it was carved from pure gold._

_As though knowing he would follow, the female entity continued into the grand palace which was decorated by every sort of precious metal and jewel imaginable. Indeed, he made a wise decision in pursuing her. She led him to a room constructed completely out of sapphire, with beautiful tapestries depicting epic battles, and ornate rugs and curtains. What a paradise he had discovered outside of the mortal plain!_

_A slightly deep chuckle echoed through the empty hall. Startled, the visitor nearly tripped over his own feet in anxiousness. A man that looked no older than thirty steadied him by the shoulder. The resemblance between the two was uncanny; both the girl and the man had the same blue eyes and white hair._

_It was quite obvious that the man was the girl's father. "Let's cut to the chase then, shall we," he said, his voice a light, soothing baritone. "I am the Lord of Dragon's, but before that, I am a parent, and any good parent would cherish the life of their child before anything else."_

_The guest nodded his head vigorously, prompting the father to continue._

_"My first daughter was slain under similar circumstances that this naughty little one met just yesterday." The "naughty" one stuck out her tongue childishly. _

_"I begged each not to meddle in mortal affairs and each disregarded my plea," he stated, a slightly threatening tone directed at the child. She sunk into herself like a scolded pup._

_"In order to honor your deed, I would like to bestow upon you two valuable treasures."_

_The thief was given a solid, gold nugget and a scale that was skinned from the hide of the Dragon Lord himself after partaking in a divine feast. The gold nugget was said to replenish itself as long as a piece of it remained in the owner's possession. The scale contained the same amount of chakra as an army of ninja and would allow its holder to draw upon that energy._

_The girl protested against forfeiting such valuables, but her father merely chuckled and patted her head affectionately._

_"You'll have to forgive my daughter. She is quite cynical of humans though she carries their blood," he said._

_The man was advised to only trade small pieces of the gold nugget, enough to keep himself comfortable for the rest of his life. He was also advised to wish on the scale rather than keep it since it would only bring harm in the mortal world._

_The thief did not heed the Dragon Lord's words. Once he left the large palace, he used the whole nugget at once to build himself a mansion and the scale to rule with an iron fist. This slowly drained the dragon of his strength, leaving him vulnerable to an enemy that would later use this weakness to slay him. The thief died as any mortal would, and the scale vanished._

_The girl mysteriously disappeared under the premise that she had gone searching for the scale. _

Sometimes he liked to dream that he would aid the dragon girl in her search for the scale. It turned out that the story was not fiction, and that the only possible way to obtain the scale was to summon non-human beings to the mortal world where the scale remained hidden. Only a spiritual entity could touch it without consequence which led humans to summon them in order to obtain it. The spirits, wanting the scale as well, agreed to temporary alliances in order to find it in which they surrendered their abilities to the one that called them.

Which led him to where he was now, allied with a spirit that refused to obey him directly.

_"I have faith that when the time comes again, you will do your best to join the war for the Dragon Scale and take care of yourself."_

Neji removed the forehead protector from his head, revealing the curse mark and the summoning seal underneath. He sighed wistfully at the mirror across from him. If he had done the summoning ritual correctly, instead of red, spiraling feathers, he would have had silver, overlapping crescent moons on his forehead.

"I spent years trying to perfect that summoning technique," he told his reflection, "in the hope that I would call one of dragon descent to my side."

He glared at the forehead mocking him in the looking glass. "I wanted to call the strongest summon there is. But instead I received a lower class one."

Neji huffed in annoyance. He might as well get his day started. Something told him that today would be a momentous occasion.

The Hyuuga left his home to find a restaurant open early that morning. He was not in the mood to hear another lecture about blowing up a section of the house.

A tree branch trembled behind him; Katsume most likely used it as her perch for the night. The female materialized next to him while attention was not directed toward the two. She rolled her golden eyes - that was becoming a habit in the infuriating Hyuuga's presence - in response to the permanent frown etched on his face.

"Are you _**still **_moping about summoning me?" Katsume asked.

"Don't let it bother you," Neji answered, without facing her. "I am merely disappointed with not obtaining my desired outcome. I'm not disappointed in you."

"Liar," she muttered.

"What are you exactly, anyway?" Neji took the time to observe his partner. From what he knew, the war could span anywhere from a week's time to a decade's. It would take a while just to locate the other summoners and eliminate them. He would need to know as much about the girl as possible if they were going to be stuck together for a long time. That would include which country she hailed from and which particular form she could assume. _I can eliminate her possibly being a dragon_, he thought, bitterly.

"Don't tell me that you summoned me without any background knowledge of my past," Katsume demanded. Why did he have to rub it in her face that she apparently didn't meet his standards?

"You'll have to forgive me, but when I attempted to summon a spirit, I wasn't expecting a disobedient servant lacking dragon blood," Neji snarled sarcastically.

The summon took the insult in stride. "I assure you, it wasn't my intention to forge a pact with a spoiled Hyuuga such as yourself as a side-effect of your flawed summoning experience," she returned just as sarcastically.

"Do you mean to tell me that you have a better candidate than myself as a master?"

"Oh please, spare me," Katsume scoffed. "Your arrogance is annoying enough as it is. You are merely a teen. There are plenty of older, more experienced ninja that would appreciate the talents of a phoenix, which I am by the way. Besides," she added, "there's always _**Sasuke**_ as an alternative." (Somewhere, Sasuke sneezed.)

Having received the information he originally wanted, Neji nearly stormed down the street, effectively silenced as was normal. It was going to be a loooong war . . . .

XoXoXoXoXoXoXo

He just had to find a way to escape class without being noticed.

_Ugh! Iruka-sensei's so boring! _Naruto drummed his fingers on the desk, his lip jutting out in a pout. Honestly, if any ninja needed to be terminated, all they had to do was throw them in a class at the academy; they would _**die**_ of boredom. He unconsciously adjusted his goggles to help him think.

"Hey, I know!" He exclaimed quietly. A foxy grin slowly spread about his face. He was going to pay all four Hokage a little visit.

Of course, that didn't turn out very well.

Naruto growled, wrestling with the rope that tied his hands behind his back. The other students observed the lecture with indifference; it was nothing new to them. It sure beat listening to the history of the village.

"I'm at the end of my rope, Naruto!" Iruka stated, exasperated. The pun went unappreciated by his prisoner. "You failed the graduation test last time and the time before that! Tomorrow, you've got another chance, and you're messing up again!"

"Hmph!" Naruto ceased his struggling in lieu of ignoring his instructor. That worked as usual.

"Fine! Because you missed it, Naruto," the brunette declared, gesturing to the entirety of the class, "everyone will review the transformation jutsu!"

"Awww!" A collective groan filled the air, as everyone glared at the culprit. Leave it to the idiot to bring all of them down.

Sakura stepped up and volunteered herself to go first. If Sasuke saw that she was brave, then of course she would turn out be his model girlfriend! "Alright, Sakura here," she announced, bringing her hands into the correct position for the jutsu. "Let's do it! Transform!" A cloud of smoke erupted, and cleared away, revealing a perfect imitation of the teacher examining her flawless performance.

"Transformed into me? Good," he complimented, marking an 'A' next to her name.

"Yes, I did it!" Sakura cheered, bouncing on her toes. She sure showed Ino who was boss! _I kicked butt! _She turned to Sasuke, fishing for a compliment from her crush. "Sasuke, did you see that?"

"Next, Sasuke Uchiha!"

Sakura moved down the line, allowing Sasuke to step up next. Without a word, he too displayed a transformation into Iruka and quickly changed back, joining Sakura - she made sure to congratulate him on a wonderful performance - at the end of the line.

"Next! Naruto Uzumaki!"

"This is a total waste of time, Naruto," Shikamaru complained, hands stuffed into the pockets of his pants.

"We always pay for your screw-ups," Ino added, one hand curling over her hip.

"Like I care," Naruto lied. He did care if it only gave them another reason to hate him. He prepared himself for the transformation, a grin plastered on his face regardless of his thoughts while Hinata fiddled with her fingers, silently wishing him luck. He would need it; who would control Iruka after he pulled off this next stunt?

Naruto crouched into a horse stance and placed his hands in the sign for the transformation jutsu. "Transform!" The cloud cleared away to reveal a female blonde, her body devoid of any covering other than the remaining wisps of smoke. The female Naruto blew a kiss, the twin ponytails cascading down her back shifting. He lost all focus when Iruka openly gawked and received a serious nose bleed as a result. He clutched his stomach and laughed at his instructor. "Got ya'!" He said. "That's my Sexy Jutsu!"

"Cut the stupid tricks! This is your last warning!" Iruka yelled.

XoXoXoXoXoXoXo

"Katsume, do you feel it?" Neji whispered behind the cover of the hand that cradled his head.

The rest of the customers remained undisturbed, oblivious to the boy that seemed to be talking to himself. He'd been in their for most of the day, gathering information on strange happenings in the village. Rumors of a murder of five caught his attention before a wave of killer intent assaulted him. It was strange how noone else felt it.

"Yes, I do," she replied. She sat beside him at the booth in spiritual form, her body transparent and faded.

"I see we have an enemy in our midst. They've been tracking us for sometime."

Katsume waved it off as nothing. "Whoever it is, they're willing to at least follow the rules of the war by not attacking in public. It's most likely a summon. Our enemy seems to be biding they're time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike."

Neji by now was used to Katsume being unconcerned with the risks of participating in the war. In short, it seemed like she wasn't taking it seriously, as though fighting other summons was a past time. It was this type of casual attitude that would lose him his position in the war. For now, he would not mention it.

"We'll wait till the streets clear out before we pursue them," he decided. Neji left the bill on the table and exited the place. It was quite possible that tonight, he would fight his first battle.

XoXoXoXoXoXoXo

As a consequence of his activities outside and inside of class, Naruto, under his teacher's supervision, was forced to clean the graffiti off of the faces of the Hokage. About three-fourths of the way done, Iruka left to attend to an errand leaving a threat to ensure the job was finished.

"You better not leave until you've cleaned off every single drop of paint! Otherwise, I'll make sure you don't go home until they're scrubbed to the point of erosion!"

"It doesn't matter! It's not like there's anyone waiting home for me!" Naruto had retorted. He couldn't have possibly known that in a few hours, that statement would be void. For now, it was the bitter truth. Iruka looked at him oddly before shaking his head and leaving Naruto to continue cleaning unsupervised. By the time he had finished, the sun had long begun its decent into the horizon. It was bordering on dark now which meant it was probably around seven to eight. He sure took a long time. With whatever light he had left, he examined the faces of the Hokage from his place on the Third's. He could still see the outlines of the paint on the surface of the rock on all of them, except the Fourth's. But from a distance he was sure it wasn't visible so he decided to leave it alone. He was about to climb down the mountain when a mass of toppling trees caught his attention.

"What was that?" Naruto blinked in confusion. He decided to investigate, immediately leaping toward the action he was sure to encounter. He came across a heavily wooded area, and the sight that greeted him left his mouth agape in horror and shock.

XoXoXoXoXoXoXo

"He's here." Katsume's voice entered his mind through his meditation. He had waited in a thickly wooded area of the village in order to maintain the quiet and focus. He could feel the malice surrounding him in thick layers, and it threatened to paralyze him in fear. He had never felt so deadly a killer intent before, and it made him rethink his choice of entering the war.

"I guess he was waiting for sunset," Katsume continued. "He's ready to attack," she warned.

Neji stilled his trembling hands and stood, the foreboding wind sifting through his hair. "I feel it now."

"Well, hello there," a voice above him greeted. He immediately looked up to seek out the intruder. A male that seemed to be in his late teens stood balanced at the top most branch of the tree Neji leaned against. His hair was a navy shade of blue and pulled back into a thin, long ponytail at the nape of his neck. The rising moon was to his back, casting his face in shadow. The only features that he could distinguish from the front were the eyes that glowed red. They spoke of blood lust and a longing for a good fight.

"Nice night, isn't it?" The enemy asked, politely. "Wouldn't your female companion agree?"

Neji bit down on his lip. Though the Hyuuga could see Katsume - she now stood protectively in front of him - to other humans, she should have been invisible unless she revealed herself. It only confirmed their suspicions. "He can see you, Katsume. I knew it, he's a summon!"

"You're a perceptive one," the summon observed, his metal shoulder pads shifting with the slightest movement. his crossed arms slowly unfolded, and he held out a hand in which a spear slowly materialized. "And because you are aware of this, that means you are my enemy!"

Neji wasted no time in fleeing in the area. He had to get as far away from civilian life as possible. The enemy summon grinned in amusement. He was even given the satisfaction of a chase. _This should be fun then_, he thought.

"Since the weapon he's using is a lance," Neji stated, while jumping from one tree limb to the next, "we'll have to find an area where we have the advantage over him." The summon appeared suddenly before him, a smug grin on his face.

Neji immediately leapt back and came to a kneel. "Katsume!" Without further command, she materialized, blocking the path between her master and her enemy. Neji smirked; Katsume could handle things well.

Their opponent apparently approved as well. "Nice. For a young one, you sure do know how to handle yourself."

Neji ignored the compliment, while Katsume questioned the summon. He was without another master, which would make identifying who exactly they were fighting more difficult. "I take it that your are a wolf, are you not?" Her expression was fierce, all traces of her contradictory persona gone. _Perhaps_, Neji realized, _I have underestimated her._

"You guessed it," the man confirmed, a vulpine grin providing more proof to his wolfish features. Now bathed in moonlight, both master and summon could plainly see the chiseled chest and steady stance of their opponent. He exuded confidence that set both on edge. "Now," the man said, snapping Neji out of his musings, " based on your patterns and features, you seem more like a bird of prey which would define you as a phoenix. Am I wrong?" His question met silence so he assumed that he was correct.

"Well then. I am Ryoshi, and seeing as how we have crossed each other's paths, we have no option other than to fight."

"That's fine with me," Katsume said, smiling as she assumed a battle stance. Her kimono morphed, revealing a crimson red cloak covering thin golden armor. "Tell me what to do, Neji," she implored. "I've been itching for a confrontation for a while."

_That explains why she's been annoying me_, he thought, slightly amused. He too smiled. The Hyuuga was confident now in the phoenix's abilities and would put the wolf's to the test. "Alright then. Go on, Katsume. Show me what you've got," Neji commanded. Twin swords that resembled feathers, one orange and one red, appeared in a flash of crimson light into her hands. Immediately, Ryoshi charged and was met by Katsume who avoided the jab to her chest by catching the weapon with her own in a cross. The result was a large gust of wind that uprooted the surrounding trees and forced Neji to clutch the dirt below to remain steady.

The two summons and master remained unaware of the audience they attracted as the fighters continued exchanging blows. It was an odd sight, a seemingly older male fighting a smaller female. Katsume slashed at Ryoshi's stomach, missing entirely when he jumped over the incoming weapon to dodge. He quickly pivoted and made to stab her back, but was effectively blocked by the phoenix's second weapon. Ryoshi quickly recovered and sent a sidekick to her exposed stomach. She flew toward a tree, but righted herself quickly by stabbing her swords in the ground.

A sharp inhalation of air drew the attention of the wolf who was about to attack again. "Who's there," he demanded, sending Neji and Katsume into a state of alarm. His eyes caught sight of an orange blur that fled back toward the direction of the citizens. He gave chase, immediately abandoning the fight.

Neji and his summon followed closely behind. "This is bad," he said, grimly. "We were supposed to avoid being seen." He only hoped they could reach the spectator before Ryoshi did.

Naruto, in a state of complete panic, scrambled through the streets as fast as he could, his movements jerky and wild. He tripped, rolling into a heap on the ground. His legs felt like jelly due to the killer intent now fiercely focused on him. He felt drowned in the sensation and couldn't tell exactly how close the source was. He pulled himself into an alley and occasionally checked the abandon street, his breaths leaving him in pants as he gulped for precious air. He tried to calm his pounding heart and nearly succeeded in doing so.

"Yo!"

Naruto's heart sped up again in a painful rhythm as his blue eyes met intense crimson ones that bored down into him. He pushed himself as far away as he could - that wasn't very far considering that he was in an alley - while the summon he saw fighting earlier stood back to observe his captured prey.

"You sure went a long way fast, kid," he stated, his voice betraying the fact that he was impressed. He raised the red spear he carried in his hands above his head. "But you can't escape fate, and unfortunately, now that you've seen us, you have to die."

The blonde's breath hitched, and his pupils contracted at the uttering of 'die'. Before he could even think about escaping, the weapon was thrust into his heart, and just as quickly pulled out. Ryoshi wasted no time in seeing whether or not the boy would live. He was confident that the boy wouldn't, and he had more pressing matters to concern himself with, like other people possibly discovering him. "You know what they say," he called over his shoulder to the fallen boy, "dead man telleth no tales." The sound of his killer's fading footsteps and that of his fading heart would be the last he would hear.

_I'm never going to be. . . . to be Hokage._

Neji and Katsume arrived at the scene later, both disheartened at the sight of the corpse. There was no mistaking it; Ryoshi had found him first.

_It's my fault_, Neji mourned._ It's my fault he's dead. Even as a normal ninja, I knew that I would face casualties one day, and I thought I would be immune to it. _"Katsume," he called. He wouldn't be able to face the dead boy as he realized the body was too small to belong to an adult. He couldn't knowing that he indirectly played a part in his demise. "I want you to stay until his chakra is completely depleted. Then I want you to bury him. In the meantime, I'll track Ryoshi and try to identify his master."

"Understood." Katsume watched her master leap off into the night, following the wolf demon's path. She approached the body and knelt beside it, placing a hand on the back. His body heat was leaving fast. A forlorn expression graced her face.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. The lack of response nearly drove her mad with guilt. "The least I can do is sit with you while you die," the phoenix offered as compensation for her misdeed. She carefully turned the body over and cried out, her eyes widening mortification once she recognized the gaunt face and messy blonde hair.

"No." Katsume clenched her fists. "It's you. Why did it have to be. . . . why you?" Her voice trembled dangerously. She couldn't let him die. Not like this. Quickly, she placed a hands over the wound above his heart and wrapped his arm around her shoulder so that she supported him. If she remembered correctly, he lived in an apartment. The red-head searched his pockets for a key, and finding one, she crouched to gain momentum and pushed off the ground, flying towards his house and taking care not to jostle him. Forcing the key in and kicking the door open, Katsume carefully laid him on his bed, then tore through the house searching for bandages. There was only one way to save him now. Finding the gauze in a cabinet above the bathroom sink, she immediately removed his jacket - she probably should have torn it so that he couldn't wear the horrible thing anymore - and sliced his black tee carefully down the middle to separate it from the drying blood that glued it to his chest.

_Oh! _The sight of his bare skin, now an unhealthy shade of white, sent heat rushing to her cheeks. Spirit or not, she had the mind set and appearance of an early teen, and she definitely approved of what she saw. The red life-sustaining liquid abruptly reminded her of the current situation. In her hand appeared a feather that slowly faded from red to yellow in a myriad of colors: a phoenix feather. Carefully cleaning the wound, she applied the feather after directly above the area he was stabbed, then wrapped the gauze to stop the flow of blood and keep the plumage in place.

_That's all I can do for him for now. _She watched his face slowly regain color and his chest begin rising and falling steadily. Katsume reluctantly left his side to return to her master. Her obligation to the boy that summoned her strengthened her resolve to leave. "Don't you dare die, Naruto Uzumaki! I'm a spirit; I'll be able to haunt you in the afterlife." Satisfied, she left without another word.

Later into the night, Naruto stirred. His eyes, instead of coming across the night sky, found the ceiling to his bedroom. He sat up quickly, clutching his chest which throbbed painfully. He removed his hand, and was surprised to find blood on it afterward. _What happened?_ A bandage was wrapped tight around his chest, and blood soaked through slightly.

"I-I'm alive," he realized. He remembered now. A rumble from his fully functioning stomach reminded him that he missed out on two meals. The blonde would ponder about the events that night over a steaming cup of ramen.

Slurping the seasoned noodles quietly, he ran the images through his mind."Who were those two?" He asked himself. "Were they ghosts?" They certainly weren't human, not with the type of abilities they had. Not even the strongest ninja could possess such speed, strength, and endurance.

"They can't be ghosts," he concluded. "They were real and they were trying to kill each other." The blonde tightly closed his eyes and shivered. "They nearly killed me, too," he whispered, remembering the crazed look that entered the eyes of the man that stabbed him. Stabbed? "Wait a minute. He stabbed me through the heart!" Naruto hastily placed a hand over his heart. The anxiety that passed through him sped the organ up, but it was still beating inside of his rib cage. "Then how am I alive?" Naruto wondered.

The reason he was alive sat across from Neji in Hyuuga territory, her battle armor still in place. "Did you find anything out?" Katsume inquired, anxiously.

"I'm afraid not," he answered. "The wolf's master seems to be taking precaution. Even with my Byakugan, I was only able to deduce that Ryoshi's master is not a member of the Hidden Leaf Village."

"Well, that's something." Katsume sighed and settled into a chair facing Neji, massaging her temples in order to focus.

"I can't believe you squandered a precious feather just to save a witness," he scolded, watching as the summon's back grew rigid, and she stood up again.

"That choice was mine!" Katsume declared. "I still have plenty of those things, so there's no reason to be stingy with them."

"No," Neji denied, "that choice was another example of your disobedient nature. You should not make decisions such as completely reversing a person's death without my approval as your master."

Katsume, enraged by his words, withdrew back into the chair, her golden hawk eyes instilling a slightly nervous unsettlement into Neji. "I did not think that you, Neji, of all people, would use rank in order to subdue me." He didn't like the accusation and was about to protest against it, but Katsume continued. "Besides, we are a team. This isn't about you simply having me obey orders even if you were the one to summon me. I was not forced into this contract, remember that." Having stated her mind, she silently played with the velvet adorning the back of the chair she sat in.

"Katsume," Neji sighed, "I don't care that you saved him. But you should know that the action will most likely go to waste. It's imperative that outsiders remain without knowledge of this war. The rules are very clear on this; if an outsider has seen us, then they _**must **_be silenced. Even Ryoshi realized this. He immediately prioritized eliminating the witness before finishing our battle." Neji paused to make sure the phoenix understood what he was insinuating. "It's only a matter of time before he realizes the witness is still alive."

"I didn't think of that." Katsume stood and immediately prepared to go back to Naruto's apartment. _What's worse is that as a wolf, he's a natural predator. Ryoshi will hunt Naruto until he kills him! _

True to his form, Ryoshi stood on top of the apartment building, waiting for the perfect opportunity to catch Naruto off guard. He decided to tease him first, allowing his killer intent to reach his victim.

"It's him again!" Naruto cried, feeling the familiar, overwhelming tug at his sanity. This time, however, he didn't allow panic to overtake him. "Weapon!" He looked about the house for something to defend himself with. "I have to find a weapon!" His hand passed over a pair of kunai in his search. It reminded him of the two twin swords the girl from before was wielding. There was no way he could walk out of this unscathed with just two kunai. He wasn't even wearing a shirt for crying out loud! _But if I've hit bottom already, there's no place to go but up!_ He crossed the knives before him in a defensive stance and watched the door warily. "Alright!" Naruto yelled. "I'm ready for you this time!"

He, however, was not ready for Ryoshi to phase through the ceiling and drop to a crouch behind him. The dull 'thump' caught his attention. He didn't have time to face his attacker; the wolf used the flat surface of the spear to knock him to the floor. The blonde got to his feet again, the kunai crossed before him again. Instead of the conceited smirk he was sure the wolf would wear, Ryoshi's mouth curved downwards in a display of annoyance. He brought the lance to a stand beside him and watched Naruto warily.

"You know, I was being nice to ya' before by giving you a rather painless way to die." He brought the jagged tip above his head, just as he did the first time he stabbed Naruto. "But now that you're making me kill the same person twice in one day, you've pissed me off!" Naruto tensed for the imminent attack. "This time, you're dead for good!"

Naruto diverted the jab to his chest with the kunai in his right hand. The spear sliced the skin of his upper arm, making it bleed. He still managed to avoid a fatal attack which amused Ryoshi. "Well this is a surprise. It makes sense; that explains why you're still breathing after I skewered your heart." It confused him slightly. Usually humans fell to his abilities but observing the twelve-year-old panting in exertion, he noticed that the blonde had an unbelievable amount of chakra, more than even **_he_** had as a summon. "You have a lot of chakra there kid," he stated.

Naruto almost fell over in exasperation. Even his enemies were going on about cattra! And he wondered why nobody was complaining about the noise in the apartment. He didn't have the time to wonder if anyone would save him however, for in that moment, the lance came at him again. Blocking each attack in rapid succession provoked Ryoshi into using the flat of his spear again, this time to send Naruto crashing out of the window. Dammit! Now his landlord **_and_** the rabid wolfman would be out to kill him!

He struggled to stand and barely avoided the spear which was thrown out of the window. He rolled out of the targeted area and jumped to the roof of another building, traveling from roof to roof as fast as he could with an aching chest and wounded shoulder. Ryoshi caught up to him before he could reach the safety of the Hokage tower. A roundhouse kick to the ribs - he could not only feel, but hear them crunch and cave inward - sent him flying in the opposite direction where his bloodied shoulder became friends with the trunk of the tree that ended his descent. Ironically, he landed in his favorite hangout spot and hit his favorite tree. The blood streaked down the trunk as he slowly slid down, the bark scratching more of his exposed skin. Fire seemed to erupt through his arm, and he screamed in pain. If someone hadn't noticed what was going on by now, then they had to be utterly handicapped or under the influence of genjutsu. He wouldn't be surprised if the latter was true. He didn't notice the silver, overlapping crescent moons that slowly formed on his wounded shoulder. His side was a nasty shade of purplish blue. Yep, Ryoshi broke the record for the most painful beating Naruto had ever received.

Speaking of the wolfish devil. . .

"Give up, kid." Ryoshi knelt before him, one arm resting across his knee, the spear tucked to his chest, and his crimson eyes leveled with his own blue ones. It was a sign of respect, unbeknownst to Naruto, for Ryoshi had to compliment the boy on his efforts; he had quite the willpower. One that he seemed willing to continue displaying. . . .

"No!" Naruto cried, picking up one of the fallen kunai, and aiming to slash the man's face. The energy went to waste, however, since the longer weapon not only blocked his attack, but broke the kunai as well, shattering it into dozens of pieces. Ryoshi twirled the weapon before assuming a horse stance, the tip of the spear barely touching the tip of Naruto's nose.

"Checkmate." Ryoshi examined his prey, who swayed dangerously and panted harshly. His back was shredded with multiple cuts, his chest wound bled profusely having reopened, his right shoulder was bloody and the arm limp, yet the boy still had the guts to stand against him. "This was more fun than I thought it was going to be kid. You put up quite the impressive struggle." He was indeed pleasantly surprised by the resilience of the pre-teen. "From what you've just showed me, you could have been another one."

"Another one of what?" Naruto clutched his side. If he didn't get help soon, he would either die by Ryoshi's hand, or of blood loss.

The wolf chuckled, a broad grin spreading to the corners of his face. "At this point," he said ," you don't need to know."

The summoning circle marking the tree behind him glowed slightly. It went unnoticed by the preoccupied males.

"No." Ryoshi frowned slightly. The kid still didn't want to quit? "I just got a second chance to live," Naruto reinformed him. "There's no way you're taking me down without a fight! If I'm gonna' die, it's going to be for a much better cause than this." The determined gleam in the blue eyes across from him was startling. No victim of his had stood up so valiantly against him up until the bitter end. Something told Ryoshi in the back of his mind that he had chosen the wrong person to toy with.

"I've still got more in me!" The clearing exploded with brilliant white light, the source being the tree holding the summoning circle. Both Naruto and Ryoshi squinted to block out the excess light. Neji and Katsume, both of whom realized that Naruto had been chased out of his home, saw the rays calling them like a beaker as they both traveled toward the scene of the struggle. Slowly, the outline of a body could be seen coming out of the circle. The figure charged forward, driving Ryoshi back and forcing Naruto to the ground, his eyes clenched shut as he beared the pain that assaulted him after his fall. When he opened his eyes to observe what happened, he would forever remember what he saw before him.

Naruto's eyes traveled slowly upwards. Pale white legs held up a female clad in purple, airy shorts. Her top was a navy blue fighting gi, the edges lined with sky blue trim. The sash that held up the bottom was the same color as the shorts. Long, silver hair cascaded down her back in a thick braid. Her eyes were a crystal blue and reminded him of pure water. When she spoke, he believed he had died and come across an angel in heaven.

"My name is Mizurei, your summon. I've come in response to your call. And you. . . . you are my master as a result."

He didn't know why, but he was rendered speechless. Maybe it was all the confusion around him.

No, that wasn't it.

He couldn't speak because he was in awe of the overwhelming beauty, beaming from the girl standing before him.

* * *

**_NOTES_**

As you can see, Neji and Katsume tend to argue a lot. Neither know how to work well as a team. Katsume prefers Naruto and Neji prefers Mizurei, who, if you read closely would realize, is a dragon.

It was a minor detail, but did anyone notice that the Fourth Hokage's face was the cleanest?

I don't mean to portray Neji as a weakling by having him stand aside in the fight between Katsume and Ryoshi. If he joined, it would be the equivalent of Neji vs. Kyuubi divided by two. (I'm hinting at something by the way. I'll leave you to figure out what.)

Naruto is merely noting the fact that Mizurei holds an otherwordly appearance. (Which happenes to be very beautiful. Ha! Take that Sakura!)


	3. What Awaits Them

And here's another chapter just for you, my friends! We learn exactly what is in store for Naruto now that Mizurei has appeared before him.

I apologize for the delayed post. There are two reasons for that.

**One:** Not even half the people who actually read this fic reviewed. I know because I check the stats. **PLEASE REVIEW! I NEED TO KNOW HOW MUCH OF A GOOD JOB I'M DOING! **

**Two: **I still have a life. So most unfortunately, education must come first. I apologize again for the inconvenience.

And now, I ask that you enjoy Chapter 3!

* * *

**Chapter 3- What Awaits Them**

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Master?!" The last time he checked, Naruto didn't ask for any maids or private prostitutes. That was something along some rich guy's lines, not his. He was only twelve for Pete's sake!

"Do you deny it?" Mizurei sent him a curious look. She tilted her head slightly to the left - it was such a cute gesture really, especially since she didn't look any older than him - as though she couldn't comprehend his confusion. "You called me, and, as a dragon, I answered that call by coming to your aid. Your orders, Master?"

"Wait a minute!" Naruto bashed his head into his fist as though trying to rattle something out of his head. "Listen, why are you here?"

Mizurei didn't answer. She observed him instead, and her eyes narrowed when she took in his features. He was badly wounded and . . . . The clink of shifting metal caught the attention of the two. Immediately, the dragon placed herself in front of Naruto. Ryoshi watched the pair warily, his weapon held in front of him in a defensive position.

"What the hell is this," he growled. "It's hardly fair having two summons against one." Naruto remembered the other girl that fought him from before, but Mizurei didn't seem pleased with this new information. "You don't expect me to fight you as well, dragon, do you?"

"Come now, wolf," Mizurei reasoned. "Quit now and you'll disgrace your own kind."

"Then I guess they will have to be disgraced." Ryoshi turned his back to her and began walking off. "I have what I came here for: information. I had no intentions of tangling with summons. But I assure you, I enjoyed my night very much." The comment was made while he watched Naruto over his shoulder, who gritted his teeth in obvious pain. "I'll bid you adieu for now."

"You're leaving?!" Mizurei charged forward again to deliver a blow but was stopped by her enemies advice.

"My orders were to retreat should I encounter unnecessary trouble." He smirked. "I consider you unnecessary trouble. Besides, your master is in no condition to sit through another battle."

True to his word, Naruto struggled to keep his eyes open. The blood from his wounds stained the grass below him. Ryoshi used Mizurei's distraction to escape, disappearing through the trees in an instant.

"Come back here!" Mizurei demanded, which was of course ignored. Naruto cried out behind her, and immediately she sought to attend to his wounds. Just as she turned her back to the surrounding foliage, pain entered her chest. She looked down and found a red short sword protruding out of her body. Growling, the dragon jerked forward to remove it and faced her new opponent, a hand covering her wound.

"So you _**have**_ been summoned, dragon," Neji confirmed, standing beside Katsume who was ready to strike again. The bitter look on Neji's face didn't escape his summon, and quite frankly, the phoenix was glad that he now knew he had no opportunity to receive a dragon himself. The question of the day: who was her master?

"Stop it!" Naruto made his presence known again, leaning on the tree for support.

Neji let his pale eyes pass between the two twice. Realization dawned on him then, his eyes narrowing. "So your master is. . . ."

"Naruto!" Katsume sped past both master and servant in hopes of reaching Naruto. He, not knowing that this girl had saved him, backed away in fear. Before she could reach him, Mizurei blocked Katsume's path, her arms outspread, allowing fresh blood to flow freely out of her own wound. Both tensed, preparing for another fight to ensue.

"Would you stop that?!" Naruto ordered again. "Geez, I think I've had enough of the whole randomly kill each other thing, today!" Both Katsume and Mizurei were startled by his outburst, but Neji took everything calmly, considering that he just came face-to-face with a rival. It was obvious that Naruto didn't know what he was drawn into.

"Randomly kill people?" Mizurei honestly couldn't understand her master. "You're not making any sense! You never turn down the opportunity to slay your enemy."

"I don't even know who _**you**_ are besides your name!" Naruto exclaimed. "All I know is that after that psycho saw me, my day went from crap to hell! And now you come out of nowhere calling me master!"

"But you _**are**_ my master," Mizurei pointed out, calmly in contrast to Naruto.

"Stop calling me master, will you? It makes me sound like a perv, and it's freaking me out!"

"Enough." Neji stepped forward. "It's obvious that the idiot doesn't know what's going on." Naruto was shocked. He put two and two together and realized that the red-haired girl was the one he saw just yesterday following Neji.

"Neji, what's going on?" Naruto asked. Mizurei, though still suspicious, relaxed her guard. Naruto knew the opposing master, and Katsume didn't seem willing to fight while Naruto was injured, strangely enough.

"We'll discuss this elsewhere," the Hyuuga suggested, coldly. "The genjutsu that Katsume placed on the village will fade off after a while, and I'd rather not waste my energy trying to sustain it."

All four crowded into Naruto's apartment where Katsume immediately tended to Naruto wounds, and Neji explained the situation at hand to the new master.

"You've been dragged into a certain tournament of sorts," he began, leaning back on the two hind legs of the chair he drew up. "The purpose of it is to obtain an item known as the Dragon Scale." He glanced at Mizurei to gauge her reaction. She grew rigid as was expected. Naruto was about to interrupt, but Neji held up a hand for silence and continued.

"It's a series of battle to be fought by the masters who summoned and the summons that answered. Since only the person who possesses the object can make a wish, the masters and summon fight for the right to have it. It was originally a gift to a human who did not wish on it, and so it has remained in the mortal realm. But only a spirit can touch it without catastrophic results."

"So you guys _**are**_ ghosts?" Naruto asked skeptically.

"No, Naruto," Katsume giggled. "Spirits. We are beings that live in the Summoning Realm. When you saw me yesterday, I was in my spirit form. Right now, Mizurei and I are both in solid, human form which most of us prefer. And, should the need arise, we can take on our demonic or larger forms as well," she told him, re-wrapping the wound around his chest. He seemed quite bothered by having a girl touch his bare skin while he was conscious, which she took advantage of. She was amazed to see his chest almost completely healed. Her feather helped, yes, but he shouldn't have healed so quickly. It was worth mentioning to her master.

"To be honest, I don't believe you're fit to be a master," Neji stated, disdainfully. "You are completely inept, and you have no idea what you involved yourself in. It is both questionable and disturbing that you were able to summon a dragon, Naruto."

"Hey!" Naruto sat up quickly, ignoring the wave of nausea that hit him. "I didn't ask to be in this stupid war of yours. In fact," he declared, pouting childishly, "I'm not gonna' be a master! I'm already going to be Hokage anyway!" All three were stunned again by Naruto's words, Mizurei being the most unsettled. Neji recovered first, shaking his head.

"You can't just walk away from being a master, Uzumaki. That's not an option. Willingly or not, you entered a contract by summoning Mizurei, and you will have to meet the requirements until the goal has been met. To believe it inconvenient is idiotic; being a master is a rare privilege."

"I don't think it's idiotic. I don't want to die just because summons have to run around killing other masters and summons," Naruto complained. The statement was quite ironic since he wanted to become a ninja, another dangerous position.

"Naruto, where did you get that idea from?" Katsume asked. Her attention was now on his back, which had healed as well, except for a few minor scratches left over from deeper gashes.

Naruto winced as she touched his side. "You guys were -"

"No one has to kill a master just to win. I told you, only a summon can touch the Dragon Scale without consequence. So the key is to eliminate all other summons," Neji snapped. He felt like he was going around in circles. Katsume cleaned the dried blood on Naruto's shoulder, revealing something of great interest.

"Neji," she called, "I found it." The phoenix held out Naruto's shoulder for all of the room's occupants to view. Where the flesh once lay sliced, three crescent moons, each overlapping the other and none of which were the same size, glittered in its exposure to the light. They were silver in color and contrasted harshly against his tan skin. It was undeniable proof that Naruto was Mizurei's master.

"Great, now Iruka-sensei's gonna' kill me, too," Naruto whined. "How the heck did I get a tattoo?" He foolishly believed someone set him up. "Today is kill Naruto day isn't it? I thought that was reserved for October 10th." The comment slipped out, and though it was worth pursuing, noone questioned it. Katsume didn't like the negative connotation, and Mizurei found it quite interesting.

"Relax," Neji commanded. "Only other summons and masters will be able to see it. It's your mark as a master and it's what gives you control over your summon. If you summon a spirit, then it is your duty as a master to aid them in seeking the Dragon Scale."

"Whatever." Naruto pulled his arm out of Katsume's hand and crossed both over his chest. "We got off topic. So anyway, I'm not going to die by fighting in this war?"

"I didn't say that either," Neji stated, frowning.

"Dammit, you're contradicting yourself!"

"Do you think you could defeat me in mortal combat?" The question came quite out of the blue, and it was from Mizurei who had remained silent thus far. Thinking back, he remembered that Ryoshi had been unwilling to face the dragon in a fight. Added to that, he swore that Neji seemed a little jealous of Naruto for having Mizurei as a summon. And the blow she had received from Katsume? It healed right before his eyes on their way to the apartment!

"No, of course not." There was no need to be overly confident in himself; he barely escaped Ryoshi after all.

Neji understood the point Mizurei was trying to make and continued from there. "Summons are hard to defeat as they are nearly immortal. But a summon cannot exist fully in the mortal realm unless they are under contract _**with**_ a mortal."

"I get it," the blonde said. "If the master is killed, then the summon will disappear, too."

"Exactly. So, its easy for a summon to defeat another if their **_master_** is vulnerable to attack," Katsume finished. "There are some ways for a master to allow their summon to continue without them, but it's extremely rare since few actually know how to do it. And," the phoenix continued, "it would probably come with dire consequences."

"So then how do I get out of this?"

"That's easy," Katsume said, cheerfully. Naruto became hopeful. "Win the war." Naruto's hope died.

"And what happens if I do?" Naruto asked.

"If you win, you and your summon will each get one wish. It could be anything: start your life over again, prevent something horrible. . . . become Hokage. Of course, no one has been able to successfully obtain it. The last war was twelve years ago." Neji stood to leave, signaling his partner to do so as well.

"Are you people insane?!" Naruto yelled. "You mean to tell me you've done this before?!"

"There are some things, Naruto, that people are willing to do in order to have what they want most." Neji's eyes were distant and unfocused as he said this. It seemed like he had traveled to a different world in his mind. The pale, pupil-less hue only served to strengthen the observation. "Now," he quickly said, rousing himself out of a stupor, "I believe you have an exam tomorrow. It's best that you get some rest and worry about this some other time. It seems as though we are the only ones in Konoha that have summons."

"Oh man," Naruto groaned in mortification. "I forgot all about the test." The many events occurring one after the other that day completely distracted him from thoughts of the exam. "I'm never gonna' pass in this condition!" He whined, gesturing to his bandaged chest and arm.

"All the more reason for you to rest. Goodnight." Neji he curtly bid, leaving with Katsume following closely behind. He doubted the blonde would pass regardless of his condition.

Naruto sighed and collapsed on his bed after changing into his pajamas. He forgot that Mizurei was even there, so unnaturally quiet she was. He wondered if this was really normal for the girl. There was something off about her silence, as though, under different circumstances, his summon would be more. . . . friendly? And what about him? It was never in his life's aspirations to fight in a war as dangerous as this. What had he gotten himself into?

Naruto was a master in the Dragon Scale War. It sounded somewhat heroic, something that a strong shinobi - no, a future Hokage - would definitely be apart of. And with Mizurei by his side. . . . Wait a minute. Mizurei would have to stay with him now! He certainly couldn't ask some random person to take her in. They would scoff at him, first of all. Noone would help the demon child. Where would she sleep? And what about food? He didn't have nearly enough to live comfortably for the two of them. He was in a lot of trouble now.

_Why me?_

XoXoXoXoXoXoXo

Mizurei had a lot of trouble believing that Naruto was real.

Mizurei stretched in a feline manner on Naruto's bed, allowing the sun's rays to catch her hair. The silver strands shone with a rainbow sheen for a moment before she repositioned herself.

There was no possible way that he _**could**_ be. She wouldn't be fooled again. No, she knew just what kind of person Naruto was; the kind that wore a mask. Not only was Naruto pretending to be kind, he was pretending to be blind to things around him. It was obvious in the way he handled the woman that called him a monster that morning. He feigned not being able to hear the heinous comment. The blonde was a complete and utter fake, acting like he was caring, naive, and innocent.

Mizurei could tell that he didn't care one bit about her. And those sweet blue eyes of his. . . . they didn't fit him at all. She wouldn't be surprised if this one was a pervert like some of the other ones, biding his time until she appeared a little closer to her actual age. It showed already; Naruto had her wear an orange t-shirt that barely covered her thighs, made her sleep in his bed, and blushed redder that a wet tomato for a good portion of the night. She conveniently forgot that he wasn't even thirteen yet and that he hadn't even slept in the bed with her but instead on the sofa. But the dragon wouldn't age very fast, even in the mortal realm - so she hoped. She conveniently forgot that her aging would speed up as well the longer she stayed in the plane of humans. Mizurei planned to resist him all the way.

"Stay he says," she scoffed, "as if I am a dog."

Alright, so being a summon would make _**not**_ obeying a little difficult. She was obliged to do as Naruto bid. The dragon admitted that becoming a summon in order to find the Dragon Scale was a regrettable decision. Mizurei had been a fool to believe that humans could ever be kind, trustworthy beings. Was it not a human that caused the Dragon Scale to be lost? But just because she was obliged to do his bidding, didn't mean Mizurei couldn't object. After all, Mizurei was a summon. And even if ignorant humans such as Neji and Naruto no longer remembered what exactly that entailed, she was pretty sure that Katsume, as well as herself, still remembered what being a summon meant. If the humans thought that it was simple slavery. . . .

. . . . it would make killing her master that much easier. And that would be no task either; she did it to three of her previous ones.

XoXoXoXoXoXoXo

It was a clear day - there was barely a cloud in sight - which was the norm in the fire country. Birds twittered nosily outside of the window; he could do without the reminder of the humanoid bird that reveled in molesting him last night. But Katsume was definitely someone Naruto could get along with. And she was nice, unlike a certain Hyuuga that served as her master. He decided that she couldn't possibly be happy in that case and was willing make it up to her by stealing her away for a while to join him for some ramen. He vaguely wondered whether or not she had a lot of money; she dressed well enough. Then again, that could be because she lived with a stuck up Hyuuga. Maybe she could get Neji to pay for their meal.

Naruto yawned, revealing all of his teeth, resting his head on his hand and staring blankly out of the window.

Dealing with the other female that recently entered his life was a whole other story. For a strong lack of better terms, Mizurei creeped him out. She was so. . . . compliant and. . . . acquiescent, nothing like the defiant, determined female he could tell Katsume was. Facing her earlier was an awkward affair. The blonde wasn't used to any girl being in his apartment for an extended amount of time, and especially not an attractive, dangerous dragon. He remembered exactly how their conversation went before he left; with his face on fire the whole time.

_"Stay?" Her mouth curved downward into a small frown, and her crystal blue eyes flickered with a small sign - it couldn't be, that was impossible for her - of defiance. It was obvious that she didn't like it, but she was supposed to obey him, right?_

_"Well," Naruto explained nervously, scratching the back of his head, "it's just that. . . ." Naruto struggled to provide a reason. "I just don't want you to come, okay?"_

_"No, it's not okay," she objected. Her arms twitched as though she were resisting the urge to cross them over her chest like most females did when peeved. "I will not be able to protect you if you are not within my range. It has come to my attention that your summoning was improper."_

_"Improper?" He supposed it would be, considering that he hadn't been __**trying**__ to summon her._

_"Yes. I cannot take my spirit form, and my regenerating process has slowed considerably."_

_Naruto couldn't imagine that it could be even faster than what it was! Her chest wound healed so quickly, in a matter of seconds in fact! He explained the observation to which she shook her head._

_"My own regeneration only took care of the outside damage. Any internal damage hasn't completely healed," she stated gravely. "In addition, I cannot completely sense you in this condition. If you should come across danger, I wouldn't be able to protect you."_

_"How much protection would I need in the middle of a hidden village with plenty of ninja running around?" He asked, incredulously._

_She stopped arguing then. It really wasn't a surprise when she nodded and said, "Yes, Master," as though she never lifted a hand to defy him in the first place._

_Before he left, she decided to take precaution. "Katsume's master is a member of this village, correct?"_

_Naruto forgot about that. "B-but, there won't be any fighting." It came out as a whine, an attempt to keep his right to travel as he so pleased. "Besides," he added more confidently, "I'll be back as soon as I pass my test." He was about to leave the door when she decided to give him an order of her own which was quite a surprise._

_"Hear this then. Since in this state, my connection with you is feeble, if you come across danger, use the mark on your shoulder to call me."_

_"You mean this?" He rolled up his sleeve to reveal his crescent moon marks. The area was no longer tender, thankfully. She nodded. "How do I do that?"_

_Mizurei frowned again. "Apply chakra to it," the dragon stated simply._

_"Okay, got it!" He pulled his sleeve down again and rushed out of the door quickly. He didn't want to be late._

Naruto's head bobbed slightly in a show of fatigue before he quickly brought it back up. _Somehow, I feel like I wronged her, _he thought vaguely.

"We will now start the final exam," Iruka announced in front of the class.

_Here goes nothing. Third time's a charm, right?_

XoXoXoXoXoXoXo

"Waaaah! I'm so bored!"

Katsume snuggled further into her futon.

"Stupid, Neji," she grumbled, playing with a loose thread from the fabric. He was so damn arrogant! It was infuriating! So what if he knew a hidden technique from the main branch. What was his obsession with Hinata Hyuuga anyway? What was there to prove? The girl had stuttering issues!

"Naruto is no threat to me," she mocked the words of her master, wrinkling her face. Her whole expression lit up when an idea sprung to her head.

"I know! Naruto's place seems pretty dull right now. Maybe I can liven it up a little bit!" Katsume was not to be swayed with her new determination set. If she was lucky, Neji would have a stash somewhere that would supply the phoenix well enough to serve her purpose. But first, she would have to pay a visit to Naruto's apartment. Rendering her lithe body invisible, Katsume slipped through the wall of her temporary confinement.

Getting to his apartment was no hassle. The problem waited inside of the door she effortlessly phased through.

"Is there a particular reason why you are here, phoenix?"

Katsume's golden eyes swivelled to meet the dragon's blue ones. She sat on the bed looking quite vulnerable with a shirt that exposed her shoulders and thighs. She sniggered in the back of her throat seeing her enemy reduced to such a ruffled appearance, in her master's bed no less.

"Is there a particular reason why _**you**_ are here, dragon?" She asked, one hand moving to rest on her hip.

Mizurei snorted. "My master believes that he is fine without my protection." She shifted her weight on the bed.

"Well," Katsume said, moving toward the bathroom, "you're not the only one with that problem."

The dragon silently observed the other summon as she moved about the apartment, the phoenix occasionally shaking her head at the state of her master's home.

_At least he keeps the place clean_, Katsume thought, taking note of the things that needed remodeling: everything! The white walls were slightly chipped, the sofa had seen better days and didn't match the bed sheets. The window was still broken from the events the night before. The counters and stove could use better designing, the fridge only had spoiled milk inside of it and the cabinets had rows upon rows of instant ramen cups. The calendar on the wall _**had**_ to go. The one good thing she noticed was the abundance of plants in the room. Katsume sighed. She had a lot of work to do.

The phoenix decided to tackle the bathroom first. It was smaller and separate, therefore, would be easier to work on. Katsume began by measuring the distance between opposite walls on both sides of the room in case the room was wider at one end than the other. Then, she measured floor to ceiling and the size, position and shape of any irregularities in the room such as pipework.

After measuring the bathroom she moved to the kitchen area, emptying out his supply of food and continuing with her measurements. The quiet atmosphere unnerved her, so she decided to make conversation with the other occupant of Naruto's home.

"So," Katsume began, " when are you planning to kill him?"

Mizurei's normally controlled expression morphed into shock. Katsume rolled her eyes at the display - she was seriously annoyed with the overindulgence of arrogance.

"How did you know?" Mizurei asked. It was no use hiding herself with this one; the phoenix was naturally observant so almost nothing could escape her keen sight when the female focused.

"You have quite the reputation for disposing of your masters. In fact," Katsume stated, observing the apartment during her speech, "it's a well known fact that the only master you _haven't_ killed was your previous one."

Mizurei opted to remain silent for a moment, settling back into the bed again. When she finally answered, the voice was shaky rather than stern like usual. Katsume noted the change.

"As soon as I come across the Dragon Scale, I plan to kill him."

"Then I guess I'll have to find it first now won't I?" Katsume proposed, checking over her notes as though she hadn't openly challenged the other summon. Said summon narrowed her gaze, angered by the audacity of her enemy.

"You would dare," she threatened, "defy your master by protecting mine?" The dragon snarled, eyes glittering with malice and teeth slightly bared. Katsume became angry in that instant as well.

"I have no intention of obeying him the way he wishes me to," the phoenix hissed in response, the hair on her neck standing to attention from the sudden wave of killer intent. "I am no slave to anyone!" She screeched. "You of all people should realize his abuse of the contract that has been forged between us!"

Mizurei willed herself to calm down. She succeeded in riling her opponent up; she hit her in the place it hurt most, intentionally or not, and for that, she apologized out loud to Katsume who sighed and calmed herself as well. Finally, having decided what additions she would make, the summon silently crossed the room to the door and left without another word.

Neji would be in hell if he kept underestimating Katsume the way he did. The Hyuuga wasn't the only one cursed as a caged bird, and it would be a painful route for him to take in order to understand that. Of course, Mizurei didn't realize that her musings about the Hyuuga applied to herself as well . . . .

XoXoXoXoXoXoXo

Mizurei was furious, no, livid! The imbecile was going to ruin her chances of winning the war with his stupidity! Did he not say that he would return as soon as he passed his exam? It was dark already!

Katsume already made seven trips with shopping bags full of food, paint, and other necessities for renovating her master's apartment. In a day's time, the phoenix, with help from her bored, annoyed self, had painted the bathroom walls a light blue and the rest of the apartment a maroon red. Creamy white curtains replaced the blue blinds that once covered the now fixed window. The floor of the bathroom was covered with fluffy, white carpet and every smooth surface was spotless and shiny. The table now featured a creamy white table clothe that matched the curtains rather than the stark white one from before. Food filled the once empty fridge and replaced the cups of noodles in the cabinet from before. The bed sheets were now peachy tan in color and matched the new sofa perfectly. The evil, provocative calendar was gone, and the plants remained.

The dragon wondered where her rival even got all of the money necessary to buy the various items needed to improve the apartment. It wasn't a surprise that she actually knew _**how**_ to fix the apartment, considering her occupation for the first half of her life.

She would wait no longer. Changing into her standard fighting garment, Mizurei left the apartment to search for her master. He was nowhere in the village's inhabited areas so she checked the dense surrounding forest instead. Ninja ran about the village in a crazed manner. What was going on?

"Come on! We have to find Naruto! The demon child could put all of the village into danger if that scroll falls into the wrong hands!"

_Naruto? Demon child? _Naruto was in some kind of trouble. He seemed to draw trouble to himself all of the time.

A scuffle drew her attention to a speck of orange. She was grateful, for once, for the eye-sore clothing he wore since it made spotting him easier. The smell of blood made her anxious. The scene she observed was of a bloodied man, hovering over her fallen, young master to defend him from the large shuriken embedded in his back.

"Why?" Naruto asked, his face contorted into one of pain and deep sadness that threw her off.

"Because we are the same," the man with a scar on his face told him. He described his life after his parents had died, how noone cared for him and how it dictated his life as a child. She didn't know that Naruto had lived that way. But the dragon still didn't understand what was going on, or why Naruto carried the Sacred Scroll of Sealing on his back. Her question was answered by the man that she assumed attacked the other ninja.

He chuckled in a sinister way, his shoulders shaking with mirth. "Don't make me laugh," he yelled. "Iruka always hated you! He was orphaned because Kyuubi killed his parents! And that beast is now inside you. He'd say anything to get that scroll from you!"

"Kyuubi? Kyuubi is inside Naruto?" Mizurei backed into the trunk of the tree she observed the scene in. No, it couldn't be! But it made sense. Why they called him monster, demon child. Why October 10th was the day he feared for his life, and why that enormous amount of chakra resided in his body. Why he was hated so much and why he wore a mask that hid his sorrow.

And she hated herself for wanting to kill him.

Naruto ran away, the man named Iruka screaming his name. She watched the rest of the conflict play out: the disguised Iruka fooling the equally disguised Mizuki, Naruto defending Iruka with a technique he learned from the scroll. Iruka graduating his student for enduring the events that transpired that night and defeating his colleague with not one, not two, but dozens of shadow clones. Mizurei returned home to wait for her master. She would speak to him later, but she wouldn't mention what she learned that night.

And Mizurei wouldn't doubt him as much, knowing that she, Naruto, and Iruka shared the same past.

"From now on, whatever fate awaits you, awaits me. . . . Naruto."

* * *

_Notes_

It seems that Mizurei and Naruto, and Neji and Katsume have more in common than they realize, don't they?

Wonder why Mizurei doesn't hate him because of Kyuubi? Sorry, can't tell you yet.

Mizurei seems willing to atleast compromise with her new master. One arrogant person down . . . .

Does it creep you out that Mizurei has killed her previous masters? If you have read closely, you'll realize that Mizurei is the girl whose father presented the Dragon Scale as a gift to the thief (Chapter 2). Very key fact for later. He briefly mentions that Mizurei is cynical of humans despite sharing their blood; that means that she is half-human. Another key fact for later. So, exactly why does she hate humans? Keep reading, and you'll eventually find out.

Mizurei's previous master wasn't killed by her? What made her/him different? (Me stating this makes it very crucial to the rest of the story)You'll find out some day.

Iruka might have a new fan now. Guess who? Mizurei! (Not in a romantic sense of course. That would be just plain wrong!)

Katsume is very attached to Naruto. She even fixed up his apartment for him and threw away the battle to heal his wounds. But what about Neji? Will she eventually learn to trust him? Perhaps. . . .

**PREVIEW**

Naruto is finally a ninja! Mizurei is more talkative to his relief. But to his chagrin, she is not willing to allow his vow to return straight home to slide. As punishment for breaking this vow, she is accompanying him to the orientation to make sure nothing goes wrong. But when does that ever happen when Naruto is concerned?

This exciting next chapter will include a fed up Neji, a naughty Mizurei, a stunned class of graduated shinobi, an entertained Chouji, a chef Katsume, and a whole box full of trouble!

**_PLEASE REVIEW_ AND KEEP YOUR EYES PEALED FOR CHAPTER 4!**


	4. Topping the Cake

And the long awaited fourth chapter is here! Sorry that it's been a while; education (unfortunately) comes first. But I finally got it done. Hope you enjoy!

**PLEASE REVIEW!** **I have 300 hits! There's no reason other than people being lazy why there shouldn't be at least a third of the number on my review count. One simple word would suffice even (though I would prefer a thoughtful reply to the chapter).**

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**Chapter 4- Topping the Cake**

He wasn't sure what woke him first, the smell of bacon and syrup or the slight weight across his body. His feet were covered by sheets so he could only deduce that he fell asleep on the bed last night. Konohamaru was a trip. He wore the blonde out!

The weight on his body shifted again. It was a bit heavier than the weight of his sheets. His hands slid upward from under the sheets only for his fingers to bump into something soft, like a girl's chest. Naruto's cheeks burned. Only one of two people could be on top of him: the phoenix or the dragon. Judging by the giggle that sounded in his ears, he could only guess the former. Mizurei probably would make sure to avoid any contact with him at all. . . . period. The blonde had little time to think about how the thought stung more than it should have.

"Rise and shine, Narutooooo," Katsume sang.

With a groan, he quickly withdrew his wandering hand and forced his tired eyes open. Her fiery red hair spilled across his chest and her golden eyes peered down into his own sapphire blue, a look of amusement in their depths. She had him slightly pinned down, her legs straddling the waist of the blonde and her arms on either side of his head.

"I didn't know you were that outgoing," she said in a teasing seductive voice, twirling a finger on his chest. If she shifted her body, Katsume would learn just how ticklish the Kyuubi container was. It was only natural for her to assume such, especially since his hand unknowingly ventured over rolling hills all the way to the red-head's slim waist.

"If you are done entertaining my master, I would prefer that you keep the apartment from burning down," Mizurei scolded quietly, glaring murderously at Naruto rather than the actual offender. The blonde's face flamed with embarrassment. Katsume pouted before swingling a leg over his body, getting off of her favored perch lest she ruin the breakfast she slaved over.

Naruto's attention snapped to the door when someone knocked on it. Naruto yawned widely and crossed the room to get the door, abruptly clicking his mouth shut when his guest was revealed.

"Naruto," Neji greeted, stepping inside once Naruto moved. He figured Katsume would be here since she seemed to be fond of the annoying blonde. That only spelled more trouble for him; yesterday, Katsume nearly revealed herself just to say hello to Naruto who in turn nearly revealed her to the Hokage's grandson by freaking out. The phoenix found amusement in watching all of the blonde's latest pranks.

He also found that some of his earnings mysteriously disappeared only for him to find his summon at the newly renovated apartment of his blonde rival, who screeched and whined about the injustice of the world over something as trivial as ramen in response to the large meal she prepared.

The only one who seemed relatively calm about the situation they were thrust into was Mizurei, and it was obviously a well established mask that kept her from strangling either Naruto or Katsume like _**he**_ was tempted to.

"It's a good thing you came, Neji," Naruto said, grinning at the prospect of more company. "Katsume made enough food to feed an army again, so we'll probably need help finishing this."

True to his word, the table lay siege to an assortment of breakfast foods including bacon, eggs, pancakes with sliced bananas as a dry filling, sausage, and a variety of fruit. There was barely enough room to sit down and enjoy it all.

"I already ate, Naruto. I came here for Katsume," he said, an eyebrow raised at the covered table. "You have an orientation later today, so it would be best if you stopped fooling around and eat."

"Awww," Naruto groaned, "can't you stay for just a little bit?" The blonde poured milk into a cup as he pleaded for the presence of the Hyuuga.

Neji sighed and sat down at the table beside Mizurei. If Naruto was complaining, than he knew Katsume would be kicking and screaming before he could drag her away. It was too early for the drama he had to put up with, and something told him that the day would only bring more.

His attention turned to Katsume who packed some of the extras away, most likely for Naruto to heat up later. It was quite disturbing that his summon was so attached to Naruto, and he couldn't understand why. He wasn't sure if he could send the phoenix away on a mission since she would probably retaliate against leaving the blonde genin behind. What had Naruto done to deserve such blind loyalty that even he, as Katsume's master, struggled to receive?

On top of that, Naruto was completely inexperienced as a master. _How could he possibly be able to summon a dragon, especially one of her lineage?_ Neji observed the other master who shoveled pancakes into his mouth, his face turning blue when a bit caught in his throat. The phoenix giggled before heartily slapping his back to clear his clogged passage way.

It was obvious that before Katsume, he hadn't eaten a decent meal on a daily basis, a fact that the phoenix most likely acknowledged as well. Which probably meant that he would be visiting Naruto more often. He refused to be allied with Naruto; he didn't want it to come to that. Getting close to any master or summon was something that he could not afford if he wanted to win. For now, he would see what plans the blonde idiot had up his sleeve. In that way, he would learn what weaknesses he could target in order to effectively eliminate Naruto as a master.

"What is your plan, Naruto," Neji asked bluntly. He sipped at a cup of green tea nonchalantly that Katsume made for herself, Neji, and Mizurei. _She makes excellent tea_, he thought, vaguely.

Naruto stopped eating, allowing a bit of his eggs to fall with a small 'splat' off of his fork and onto his plate. Katsume wondered exactly what her master was getting at, and Mizurei instantly became suspicious.

"I don't have one," Naruto admitted, looking straight into the pale eyes of the older Hyuuga. Mizurei warily watched Neji.

"This Dragon Scale crap," he said, surprising the room's occupants with his serious tone, "means nothing to me."

Mizurei immediately became outraged and grabbed the collar of Naruto's pajamas in an uncharacteristic display of . . . . character, knocking his chair over in the process. None payed heed to the clattering sound, though Katsume quickly pulled the chair back into place.

"Listen up," she hissed, to the befuddled blonde. "If I ever hear you say that again, I'll kill you." She brought him closer to her face to make sure that he heard every word she uttered clearly. She didn't notice his eyes quickly dart to her lips and back to her eyes that sparked with fury.

"Wake up, Naruto! Do you think we summons follow you humans without any ulterior motive?" She growled. "Do not confuse me for those lower beings that call themselves summons and serve humans under false contracts. It doesn't work that way. I do not obey without sacrifice, and you will do well to learn that now."

Mizurei released her hold on Naruto, allowing him to fall back into the seat as she did the same. An angered expression remained on her face. Naruto breached a whole new level of uncomfortable. He never thought that she could lose her temper, and it was quite intimidating when someone _**smaller**_ than you could hold you by the collar of your shirt without any strain. Katsume didn't trust Neji to continue talking without saying something insulting in regards to Naruto's comment.

"The Dragon Scale grants the wish of those who get it," Katsume explained, sipping at her own tea. "But it's not only the master who gets that wish. Summons get that, too, remember?" Katsume glared at Neji.

"It's the reason that summon's answer the call of a master. We have a choice usually dictated by our will to obtain the Dragon Scale. A trend evolved from the contract between us summons versus the summons you are normally acquainted with today. Spirits from the summoning realm enter a contract but unlike with us, the summons of today merely exist to serve shinobi. They're bred as summons; we chose to be summons."

A pained look subtly inched onto the phoenix's face. "We each participate in this war because we each have something that we badly want granted. It's the only reason why many spirits of our status become summons in the first place."

Naruto tugged at the hair on his head in frustration. "So you guys just come here to have your wish granted when only one out of how ever many of you there are will even live to get it? If only one can have it, than one of you have to die!"

Mizurei was shocked and annoyed by the worry and exasperation etched on her master's face. She simply couldn't fathom why he cared so much and questioned that. "Summons don't die in the mortal realm, Naruto," the dragon pointed out. "Even if they are defeated, they simply go back to where they came from with no hope of return until they are given another chance to obtain the Dragon Scale."

"And that's only if the Dragon Scale hasn't been wished on by then. Killing should be of no consequence to you, both as a master and a shinobi," Neji stated grimly.

"But killing each other is. . .!"

"_**Listen**_, Naruto!" Katsume begged. "If you let the other masters run around unchecked then innocent people are going to die!" Naruto ceased argument and allowed his companion to continue without interruption.

"The fuel of any living being is chakra, including a summon," she said, abandoning her tea in favor of explaining what only Naruto remained in the dark about. "The more chakra we take in, the closer we get to having the same amount of strength we possessed before binding ourselves to humans." Neji could see that Katsume was dancing around the point. It was for a cute reason too; she didn't want Naruto to be disgusted with her after she finished her tale.

"What she's trying to get at," Neji interrupted, "is that a summon can gain sustenance from devouring souls and chakra since they are spiritual beings. There are masters who order their summon to attack humans and eat their souls as a way of gaining more chakra and bolstering their strength."

"Summons eat the souls of humans?!" Naruto yelled, alarmed and horrified. He desperately sought reassurance from Katsume that it wasn't true, but her gaze was guilty, and she couldn't look him in the face. He imagined the night when all of this began, when Mizurei appeared before him in all her ethereal beauty, defending him, claiming that he was her master. Even with her threat of killing him and her obvious dislike of him, he couldn't imagine her as a ruthless, cold killer. And Katsume, she was adamant about keeping him safe, healthy, and happy it seemed. She possessed a playful nature; how could she eat the souls of innocents?

_No_, Naruto insisted to himself, eyes squeezed shut. _No way! Mizurei and Katsume would never do something like that!_

Katsume watched the tea ripple in response to her trembling hands. She wanted to curse Neji or kick him under the table. Something! She was sure that he told Naruto to spite her. But Naruto would have learned the eventual truth later.

Mizurei watched Naruto cautiously. It would do no good for Naruto to fear her, as much as she reveled in the prospect. Neji had awful timing in her opinion. Telling him this at the beginning of the day would only ruin the rest of it. And she'd rather have told him herself considering that this would add one strike against all summons in his mind.

Neji mentally dusted his hands off. One more terrible fact to reveal out of the way. If he was lucky, Naruto would back out of the war due to a strong dislike for it.

"So, what will you do?" He asked, pouring himself another cup of tea, calmly. "Just sit back and watch no matter how vile the other masters get?" It was an unspoken challenge; Neji seemed to do that a lot around Naruto in specific, Katsume realized. Naruto of course, rose to that challenge.

"If they do something like that," the blonde declared, "I'll stop 'em."

"You've got to be kidding me," Mizurei said. "You won't try to defeat a master on your own initiative, but if another does something wrong, _**then**_ you'll take them out?"

"So, basically, you want to have your cake and eat it too." Neji swished the tea around the cup with his hand, a small frown etched on his face as usual. _How could he have become a master?_

"I know I'm trying to have it both ways," Naruto said, frustrated, "but I just can't come up with any other plan of attack here." Naruto nervously fiddled with his pajama pants, watching his plate of food which was quickly losing heat. He wondered if he stared hard enough if it would heat again.

Th phoenix sighed. "Mind if I tell you what the problem with that particular approach will be?" Both Neji and Mizurei were mildly surprised that she even lifted a finger to disagree with Naruto.

"There will be masters," she continued, still observing the contents of her cup, "that will be determined to use any means of winning. You one day might come across one that will hunt you until they kill you."

Naruto gasped, and Mizurei nodded her head slightly in affirmation.

"There are some summons who may even have a certain level of control over their master and might manipulate them into doing unimaginable things."

"If we sit around and wait," Neji said ,"we're dead. I doubt we'll even have the chance to retaliate or defend ourselves." The statement was directed more toward the hesitant Katsume than Naruto who seemed even more averse to the war than before.

He stood, dusting off his clothes and leaving the apartment to meet his appointed team. Before shutting the door he narrowed his pale eyes at Naruto who watched with a startled look. "Don't get yourself into trouble, today, Naruto." He wasn't inclined to rush his summon, but she prepared to leave anyway.

Neji shouldn't have jinxed him.

Mizurei silently finished off her plate and an additional two others efficiently with the grace of a noble even after consuming large helpings in a small amount of time. "Finish your breakfast," she demanded Naruto, "you'll need your strength."

He did so and quickly dressed himself wondering exactly how much of an appetite she had. He shook his head and prepared to leave, his forehead protector in place. How would it look, after all, if he arrived late to his orientation? Certainly not good.

Reaching the door, he turned to bid his "servant" farewell. Instead he found her standing directly behind him, dressed in her blue kimono as though about to leave.

"Wha?" Naruto observed in confusion as she toed on her sandals and passed him to open the door herself silently. A determined frown remained on her face.

"Hold on!" Naruto grabbed her wrist quickly before she could step out of the door. She raised an eyebrow in silent inquiry, her frown deepening in displeasure as she faced him.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"Obviously, I'm accompanying you." Mizurei answered. "It's my duty to protect you."

He opened his mouth to protest, but in another rare display of defiance, she immediately told him that there was no room for argument.

"You seem to get into trouble wherever you go," she pointed out. "It is not beneficial to draw attention to yourself the way you do."

It was obvious that she was referring to the events occurring over the last few days starting from Mizuki. It didn't help that he played pranks on the village - Katsume only egged him on with her delighted giggles and willing participation - and got into trouble constantly.

It occurred to him then that he couldn't be a master without being inconspicuous. But he couldn't gain attention and recognition unless he was conspicuous.

_So, basically, you want to have your cake and eat it too_, Neji's stoic voice reminded him.

_I may not be able to have my cake and eat it too_, he thought, _but I could always have my cake and eat someone else's._

XoXoXoXoXoXoXo

Mizurei sat outside of the window, bored out of her wits as she toyed with a droplet of water. Just before it was about to land with a 'plop', she would force the liquid to crawl back up the drain pipe from which it came and repeated the process all over again. Konoha was lowering its standards; none of the genin in that room the dragon sat outside of seemed competent enough to become ninja. Especially not the female population.

_How dare they!_ The nerve they had to attack her master for something that was clearly not his fault. And fighting over a boy made it clear to her that the priority of the girls, particularly the pink-haired one that continued to assault and bad mouth her master, was to look pretty and act tough to gain the attentions of who she deemed the "arrogant ass".

"Why am I on a team with that loser?" Sakura whined childishly. Sasuke reciprocated the complaint inwardly - he knew better than to say so aloud since approving of anything Sakura did would give her wrong ideas - crossing his arms over his chest.

"Everyone knows that he's an obnoxious, loud-mouthed, wannabe shinobi with no home training," she continued. The rest of the room's occupants, with exception to Hinata and Iruka, silently agreed.

Mizurei nearly snarled at the audacity of the girl. The kunoichi gave her nothing but a huge headache ever since she raced through the door, another girl with blonde hair arguing over who got into the room first. And the boy's stoic act was so damn dramatic and pitiful that it made people who actually knew how to play the part - she thought of her own kin at that point - look bad. Naruto probably could whip the raven-haired boy with the right training.

Determined to push him past the level of each and every student in the room, she defiantly decided that indeed, she would train Naruto. What better way for him to excel than to learn from one of the most powerful of creatures? Not that said creature was bragging.

It would do him good as a master to learn the way a summon functioned in battle anyway: hard, fast, and merciless. True, it is difficult to defeat a summon as a master, and the lazy boy that first confronted Naruto about his presence in the classroom would probably consider it a waste of time to train against an unbeatable force. _But no one said it was impossible._

A sudden flare of chakra immediately drew her attention to her master. It was too quick for anyone of the classroom to notice, but not only had she noticed it, she felt an ominous force behind it. The chakra unsettled the normally calm female greatly. _Surely that's not Naruto's chakra. _It could only belong to one person, and by person, she meant the sadistic being that inhabited Naruto's stomach.

Apparently, even the blonde with his indestructible mask had his limits. The annoying girl most likely said the wrong things at the wrong time in order to get such a reaction that she received.

Naruto was not in the right mood for taking insults. The stress involving the war left Naruto, though reluctant to show it, very irritable. On top of that, Neji's own subtle insults left a bad taste in his mouth. He had no patience for public displays of disdain. And he felt as though Mizurei was disappointed with the partnership they shared. What would she think of him now? Especially since the dragon was supposed to be protecting him and probably heard what both Sakura and Sasuke thought of him? Naruto couldn't bare to have both his new teammates _**and**_ his partner think badly of him.

He felt a deep anger engulf him. It was foreign, as though it weren't his own. Nevertheless it fueled him. Before anyone could blink, Naruto had stood and was armed with a raised fist before Sakura. She immediately closed her eyes in fear when he charged at her aiming to do damage. A gasp filled her ears, so she cautiously opened her eyes when no pain accompanied the swift attack.

Posed by Naruto's side was a beautiful girl that resembled an angel without question. Her skin was pale, possibly more so than Sasuke's, and her eyes were the clearest blue she had ever seen. Her long, silvery-white hair glittered softly in the classroom light, and Sakura could bet that it was more silky than hers. Her clothes even spoke volumes as to the beauty that radiated off the girl standing before them. Naruto sagged against the girl that delivered a blow to his stomach who sighed in response. The mystery female ran her fingers through the unconscious blonde's hair, a gesture that was meant to calm him in his state.

During the escapade, Sasuke, Ino, Shikamaru, and Hinata stood in alarm, the former three ready to pounce on Naruto if the situation called for it. Iruka was shocked beyond speech and movement. Naruto had been behaving strangely for the last few days, and this just topped the cake.

_**Everyone**_ wondered who the girl in the room was. They were enchanted, particularly the majority of the male population, by the beauty that radiated off of her easily.

"Thank you for saving me," Sakura said, regaining her composure now that Naruto had been dealt with. Served him right for trying to attack her! She was completely unprepared for the venomous glare reflecting in the once clear blue eyes that accompanied her thanks. They were clouded over with many levels of rage that startled her. Her savior had gone from ethereal to lethal.

"Do not thank me for something that I didn't mean to do." Her voice, even with the angry undertones, was clear and melodious. "My intentions were to save Naruto from getting into trouble and, as a result, getting hurt. Saving you was a consequence of that. If this situation didn't call for me to stop him, I would have let him punch you." If Naruto hurt anyone, then they would blame him for the attack since they thought of him as the nine-tailed fox. Sakura on the other hand would get off the hook even if she was the one who provoked him.

The classroom became filled with curious students who didn't know how to take the statement. A smug, Sasuke fan decided to propose her own theory.

"That's right," Ino claimed, "because there's no way Sasuke would allow that idiot to pull off something like that, even if it was against billboard brow. Everyone knows he graduated on top making him the best ninja in here."

Now the mystery angel was glaring at Sasuke as if she wanted him to state this himself. Her eyes widened with shock when she took in his features. "Uchiha?"

A collective nod was her response from the stupefied graduates. She once again decided to surprise them when a malicious smile grew on her face. Her words were like poison, and it didn't seem possible for acid to spew so confidently through her soft, pink lips.

"That sorry excuse for an Uchiha doesn't even possess his Sharingan yet. What threat is that arrogant ass to anyone at this point?" Now she had done damage. Insulting Sasuke was an unwritten offense that no sane person expected for a female (was it even possible that she didn't swoon at his appearance) to commit. The females in the room immediately protested loudly to the offending female's words.

They were effectively silenced when she decided to add more fuel to the fire with her next statement which was directly aimed at Sasuke and, more importantly, his over-inflated ego. She held two fingers up to accompany her words.

"Itachi Uchiha had nearly mastered the Sharingan at your age, yet, I defeated him twice. And both times, _**he**_ challenged _**me**_."

The very prideful fish took the well prepared bait. He growled, placing the other students on edge. The damn girl was nuts! What was she getting herself into? Iruka by now realized that only chaos could follow this if he allowed it to continue, but he was deeply disturbed by what the girl said. She admitted to her victories with no hint of hesitation or sign that she was lying. If it was true, then she could very well be a threat to all of them. And there was no mistaking the massive amount of chakra she possessed. Shikamaru seconded those thoughts.

"You're lying," Sasuke bit out through gritted teeth. It was time he silenced the bitch. He immediately assumed a fighting stance to which the offender rose a thin, silver eyebrow.

"You want to confirm that . . . . now?"

Chouji stuffed another handful of chips into his mouth. This was getting good; drama, suspense, mystery, snappy insults. And here came the long awaited climax! The door slammed open to reveal a panting, pissed off looking Neji Hyuuga who pointed accusingly at the mystery girl in the room, immediately assuming the worst. The mischievous look in her eyes did nothing to attest for innocence.

"You!" He growled. "Dammit, I swear you two put together are more trouble than you're worth, even without Katsume!" Everyone's eyes raced between the two parties, now wondering what connection the Hyuuga prodigy had with the dead last and the mystery angel as they had come to acknowledge her as. Hinata became nervous. She didn't know her cousin was acquainted with Naruto and the girl that held him, and she was not used to this side of him (or any side for that matter). He was swearing, **_swearing_**! And who was Katsume?

"It's like I became a fucking babysitter overnight!" Neji was beyond infuriated. Did they not know that they weren't supposed to reveal themselves?! If Katsume was bad, than he wasn't sure what to call Mizurei. She deliberately allowed herself to be seen in the presence of people who were not masters and even worse still, she purposely flared her chakra to boast her strength.

Both females and the male would ruin his chances of winning the war! If anyone in the room was smart enough to do so, they would warn the Hokage that a possible threat in the form of a girl breached the barriers of the village. Naruto would get into trouble, Katsume would defend him, and as her master, if he wanted to stand a chance of seeing the Dragon Scale, Neji would have to defend her. Fate surely was toying with him to make the blonde a competitor in the war.

Chouji hit the jackpot in entertainment today! Not one, but _**two**_ genin caught acting out of character, and a beauty knocking Sasuke Uchiha down a couple of pegs. Gossip was sure to spread like wildfire now!

Neji stormed into the classroom and hauled the still unconscious Naruto off of the mystery angel, slinging him across his shoulder. He was out like a light and would probably wake up with a killer stomachache. Without another word, the silently fuming Hyuuga exited the classroom through the open window. The still stunned graduates warily watched the interrupting female, Sasuke officially confused and angered (never a good combination).

Chouji leaned forward in anticipation of the conclusion.

The girl stood and bowed in a graceful sweeping motion to Iruka, who was still frozen at the front of the class. She remembered the man that defended her master and was grateful. "I apologize for interrupting the orientation." She decided to take the normal route outside of the classroom.

He was utterly disappointed . . . .

The mystery angel suddenly stopped at the doorway as though she forgot something. A sickeningly sweet smile graced her face as she addressed Sakura again. "You really should learn some tact. If you continue acting like a snob, everyone might think you were an obnoxious, loud-mouthed, wannabe shinobi with no home training."

. . . . that this level of entertainment didn't occur more often!

XoXoXoXoXoXoXo

"Lord Hokage!"

Sarutobi held up a hand for silence. Naruto wasn't making a very good first impression as a genin for his classmates or the jounin. Each one of them, with exception to Kakashi strangely, questioned whether or not it would be safe to train Naruto as a ninja, or even allow him on a team with Sasuke of all people.

It was evident to all the occupants of the room that, for just one split second, Kyuubi gained a small amount of influence over Naruto. It was the reason that Naruto had gone to attack Sakura for a comment that, though highly uncalled for, was hardly an insult compared to the worst he had received and coming from one that didn't have a notable ninja clan to back her up.

The Third Hokage wasn't sure which of the events in the classroom bothered his jounin more: the short display of Kyuubi's power or the girl that accompanied the Kyuubi container.

He personally had never seen the dazzling female first of all. Not in the academy or as a villager. Someone who wore clothes like hers was probably part of a notable clan, especially with the symbol of three crescent moons on her back that replaced the fan of the Uchiha clan. If she was from a different village, she could possibly cause trouble for her presence if they thought that she was kidnapped.

Secondly, she wore no forehead protector. Huge deal considering that she displayed the speed of an S-class shinobi, even higher maybe. One second, the window was closed, the next, it was open with a girl inside, no sound marking her entrance. What was a girl of her potential doing as a villager instead of a kunoichi?

Lastly, she claimed that she had not only met Itachi, but defeated him twice. Judging from her looks, and her claims, the girl was only seven when she was challenged by Itachi and defeated him, yet a year later, he destroyed the entirety of his clan with exception to Sasuke. Most of the jounin were skeptical about that though he had a hunch that she still unnerved them with her words. After all, for Itachi Uchiha to challenge a seven-year-old was unfathomable unless he deemed her a challenge. Which spelled out one important revelation.

_**That - girl - was - dangerous.**_

But they couldn't risk taking her out for two reasons: from their knowledge, she wasn't a kunoichi, and she wasn't apart of the village. Doing so could place them in a quarrel with another country that possibly valued the girl highly. For all they knew, she could be one of the relatives of the Feudal Lords. Definitely not a risk worth taking.

"Lord Hokage," Kurenai began again, "it's possible that if that girl was protecting Naruto, she knows about the nine-tailed fox! What if her objective in this village is to steal him away in order for him to be used as a weapon in some other country?"

Another thing worth considering since the female in the room **_did_** state that she only protected Sakura so that Naruto wouldn't get into trouble. Which meant that the girl knew at least that Naruto was special from all of the others. With that in mind, he made his decision.

"Kakashi." The jounin straightened his stance slightly in response. "As his new sensei, I want you to keep a close eye on Naruto. It is possible that what Kurenai proposed is true. Naruto is somehow connected to that girl. Don't mention anything to him, but whenever you get a chance, find out as much information concerning her as possible. He most likely knows her and might talk about her at some point on your team."

What boy in their right mind wouldn't? Naruto obviously had a beautiful, quick-witted female willing to defend him. That was the reason they found her suspicious most likely; what sane person, especially of her nobility, would defend the village prankster. It was sad really that those who defended Naruto would be labeled according to his status as Kyuubi vessel.

"Get Gai in here," the Hokage ordered, fiddling with his pipe. Neji obviously knew the two well, a little surprising since he was from the Hyuuga clan. Why else would he barge into the classroom shouting profanities at both? Sarutobi would ask the genin's sensei if he knew anything about Neji's connection to Naruto or if he had been acting weird as of late.

All of the jounin except the Copycat Nin abruptly left. Sarutobi decided that it was about time he visited Naruto's apartment again. Who knows what clues they would find there?

* * *

And that concludes my latest, lovely chapter! **REVIEW PLEASE!**

**_NOTES_**

This section of my notes will be focused mostly on everyone's favorite dragon in this fic!

If you haven't realized yet based off of Mizurei's name and ability to torture innocent water droplets, she can control water. As a dragon (the Japanese kind) that would make sense, no? Think of her ability as water bending (you know, from Avatar).

Origins of her name: **Mizu **_meaning_** water **and **Rei** _meaning_ **spirit** (I haven't stated her last name in the fic yet but I will disclose that info. here.) **Ryuu **_meaning_** dragon**. She's Mizurei of the Ryuu clan!

Mizurei is strangely defensive of Naruto (in a more veiled way than Katsume).

Mizurei has kin; I'll leave that as a non-sequitur in the story for the time being.

Mizurei like to eat, eat, eat (apples and bananas)!

Is it just me, or is Mizurei slowly becoming more defiant?

Mizurei is unsettled by Kyuubi's presence. I decided that Kyuubi will have more influence over Naruto than he normally does. That's another major hint by the way.

Mizurei fought Itachi once (or twice). Yet another hint I will let you ponder over.

Summons attack humans! Waaaah!

Uh-oh! Sarutobi will be watching the masters and summons now! (But we can't let him spoil the fun can we?)

Ciao for now! I'll try to update soon! **REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! _Please!_**


	5. Dark Side of the Moon

I am so very sorry that I took so long to update. I have my next chapter updated as promised. I hope the content will make it up to you.

**I also thank a lot of my reviewers. You all make me so happy! As some of you may know, I got a particularly nasty review from Pyro-demon. _THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT SINCE IT IS AN ARGUMENT FOR MY FIC._ This is my response to the review:**

Actually, I do appreciate the constructive criticism. However, I don't appreciate the way you tear down my writing style. This website is called OCs are not Mary-sue. They are spirits; don't you think that they would be a little powerful? For the purposes of my story, they have to be. They have contracted themselves to humans (which they loathe) in order to take back a spiritual item. And in their own world, they might be just as average as a civilian.

Mizurei doesn't like Sasuke. There is a specific reason other than him being a bastard, which will be explained later. She told him about Itachi to spite him. There is also a reason why I had her defeat Itachi, not simply to boast her strength. If you read more into her character, you would realize that she does not boast her strength like a Mary-sue commonly does.

As for the S-class shinobi bit, I do agree that speed alone should not have been the determining factor. . .

I did not make Naruto a panzy. Just because Naruto is displayed as "weak" against demons doesn't make him a panzy. And I would like for you to point out an instance where he was emo. Naruto is always annoying; we've seen that in the manga and anime. And plenty of people go through characteristics in a situation they don't feel comfortable with or understand. He is TWELVE. And he is told that he's been pulled into a WAR that he knows nothing about and pits him against spiritual entities before he has even become a shinobi.

And of course I'm a "chick"; my name is LUNA the Dragon. Duh!

No, Naruto wouldn't strike Sakura out of spite. But again, if you read things closely, you would realize that Kyuubi is already beginning to have influence on him, and there is also a specific reason for that which can be explained later.

I also don't appreciate that you demean me; I assure you I am no dirty tramp. As far as I'm concerned, I can call you a sexist bastard for saying that my writing is lousy simply because I am a female. I've seen plenty of male writers who have done the same thing so DON'T YOU DARE say that only females would do what I supposedly did wrong.

I really hope you continue to read this fic. Just don't phrase your disagreements in this way. This is still my fic and if you want to see change to it, be civil about it. I hope you have read this and taken what I said into consideration. Being obnoxious is immature and will get you NOWHERE.

Luna

**As you can tell, while I do appreciate CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, I don't appreciate an approach to criticism that involves no tact. As far as I'm concerned, I have not offended anyone racially, sexually or in any other manner. So if their is a complaint, have a decent argument with PROOF to back it up.**

Now that I'm done ranting, here's chapter 5! X3

* * *

**Chapter 5- Dark Side of the Moon**

"You just don't know how to stay out of trouble, do you?"

Neji glared at the offending genin, reclining onto the wall of Naruto's room while Naruto regained his bearings on the bed. Before bringing the new graduate home, he rested with him out at the training field. Someone most likely went to the apartment as soon as possible.

"That's impossible," Mizurei said. "Trouble searches him out with a passion."

Naruto couldn't agree more. He patted his bruised stomach tenderly, willing the shade of black and blue to go away.

"Did you have to hit me so hard?" He whined, plopping back down to rest some. It would be lunch time soon so he would find Sakura, vehemently apologize for his violent reaction, and ask on her date. He couldn't do that if his stomach was annoying the hell out of him!

Mizurei raised an eyebrow at him as if to say 'obviously'.

"You guys are careless. If the Hokage becomes aware of what happened in the classroom, he will be suspicious and keep an eye out for you and possibly me for getting involved. We can't afford that if this war is to stay a secret." Neji rubbed at his temples in a circular motion, hoping to keep the oncoming headache at bay. And for the millionth time, he asked why Naruto had to become a master in the Dragon Scale War.

"He's probably already aware," Mizurei said calmly.

"What?!" Neji and Naruto stared incredulously at one another and then at the dragon.

"Your sensei isn't stupid, Naruto. He would most likely tell the Hokage what took place in the room since he's probably worried for your sake. I'm a threat to him," she continued. "Plus, the Uchiha will probably be wary of you for a while because of your affiliation to me."

"What exactly happened after you decided to knock me out?" Naruto asked suspiciously.

"It doesn't matter."

"How can you say that so calmly," he groaned.

"She mentioned defeating Itachi to him." Neji ignored the nasty glare the dragon shot at him.

"And you shouted profanities at us both, Hyuuga!" Mizurei abruptly left the room at that point, stiffly walking as though resisting the urge to stomp in a display of her developing temper. Neji hacked violently enough to compete with the kenjutsu specialist.

Naruto watched her leave, befuddled with her actions as of late. The blonde was even more intrigued now. He hardly thought that Neji's comment deserved so fierce a reaction. He frowned wondering how Neji could coax one out of her that easily. "Itachi?"

He still couldn't get over the fact that she supposedly defended him in front of all the other genin. And she had apparently stood up to Sasuke, too. No living female had done so before! He began to doubt her gender.

It was so damn frustrating that Neji had seen this less uptight version of the water spirit. The Mizurei he'd seen so far was not a devil's advocate; it was a shame that defending him would be considered playing devil's advocate in the first place. She was more of a soft spoken. . . _No that's not right._ She was more of a quiet critic. To hear that she had spoken up against Sasuke and Sakura -never mind that it was for his sake; it was probably an accident anyway - while he _**was not**_ a witness and Neji _**was**_ made him bitterly jealous whether he recognized the dreaded emotion or not. It was like Neji had seen the other side of the moon as far as Naruto was concerned.

Mizurei seemed intent on showing him that he was an incompetent master compared to Neji. Neji was hot. Stupid bastard had a lot that he took for granted. Neji even had an undeniably cute summon at his side.

_Why couldn't Katsume be my summon?_

He critically eyed the quiet Hyuuga. If he knew anything about quiet people, Neji was in Sasuke's league. People in Sasuke's league didn't shout profanities, especially at other quiet people like Mizurei. Which brought him back to his dragon.

_Mizurei doesn't act like a girl's supposed to._

Then again, his definition of a girl was Sakura.

"Itachi is Sasuke's older brother."

"Huh?" Naruto snapped to attention and scratched his head sheepishly when Neji sighed in exasperation.

"Itachi Uchiha," Neji tried again. "Ring any bells?"

Naruto shook his head.

"A few years ago, he murdered all of the Uchiha clan except for his little brother Sasuke," he stated gravely, his fingers laced and resting on his lap. "He's a missing-nin now. And Sasuke is intent on claiming revenge."

"Why would he do that?" Naruto couldn't imagine anyone murdering their whole family. And then he remembered that empty section of the village, the barren streets of the abandoned grounds where the Uchiha once lived. What drove Itachi to kill so many people, his own relatives, in the first place?

"He wanted to test himself."

The result was evident; a whole part of Konoha lay deathly quiet. But the cause? It didn't seem valid to him. He still couldn't understand what would drive anyone to kill the way Itachi supposedly did. To test himself? Sounded like a load of bullshit to him. But that wasn't his concern.

"Where does Mizurei fit into all of this?" The blonde questioned. His response was a small shrug of the shoulders and silence. If Mizurei knew Itachi than it was clear that she had been in the village once before when Itachi had still been in the village. Which meant that her previous master may have have been a member of the Hidden Leaf Village as well. It may have even possible that Naruto met her once. One thing was clear; Sasuke had a sore spot and Mizurei seemed to share that same sore spot as well.

"How many masters has Mizurei served before?"

Neji didn't know. "If you want to know anything regarding her past, it's better to ask her. I have minimal knowledge of that," he stated, leaving out his knowledge of her own clan. But he too wondered who Mizurei previously served. It would benefit him to know any possible threats in the future, including past masters.

Who could have formerly tamed the dragon, Mizurei?

XoXoXoXoXoX

"Narutooooo!" The rest of the team watched as the resident dunce of the team was attacked by a red-head, interrupting Naruto in the middle of his rant concerning three minute ramen. Her hair was currently pulled into two ponytails, one each at the sides of her head. She sat on her knees glomping the blonde from behind. His face was flushed red as he avoided looking anywhere but at the ground.

_An interesting development_, Kakashi thought with amusement. If there was one thing that could shut the new graduate up, it was a pretty girl. Perhaps taking the boy on as a student would be more beneficial than he originally thought. He seemed to attract quite interesting female company.

Sakura immediately became annoyed. The girl had been surprisingly nice considering that Naruto almost attacked her. Sasuke defended her, however, so it wasn't as "despicable as it should have been viewed". But she'd never seen this girl either, yet she knew Naruto just like the other one. And she was a good looking one also.

"We're in the middle of an orientation, Naruto. Stop playing around with your stupid girlfriend!" She honestly doubted that any sane person would associate themself willingly with him. So, her first assumption was that the fiery female was mentally impaired. The phoenix frowned slightly but said nothing more as she pressed herself firmly against her captive's back.

Kakashi wondered if it was healthy to look so red. He could imagine that the more . . . developed of the two girls currently had her . . .assets pressed against Naruto's back, the cause of his flushed face. He chuckled low in his throat at the picture. They looked quite cute together actually.

To the kunoichi's horror, Sasuke actually eyed the girl. True to the words of the dragon summon, the prodigy remained wary of Naruto and everyone hat was relatively friendly or familiar with him. "Who are you?" He asked. Perhaps he simply wasn't in tune with non-shinobi people's whereabouts, but it seemed odd to him that Naruto's companion - he supposed they were acquainted with each other since Naruto made no word against it and she knew his name - approached without any warning except her delighted squeals.

She opened her eyes as the pleased smile slowly lifted from her face, revealing golden yellow eyes that honed in on the Uchiha's black ones. "Who me?" She asked, pointing a finger at herself. Naruto squeezed his eyes closed and prayed that the phoenix wouldn't reveal her name. He would prefer that Neji didn't kill him.

"Who else?" Sakura sneered, glaring at both the intruder and Naruto. _Sasuke's mine, chaa! There's only room for one girl on this team!_

"I'm just a pretty girl who happened to notice her favorite blonde around," she said, completely ignoring Sakura as though she hadn't said anything. Naruto let out a shaky, relieved sigh.

Sakura growled. _Sasuke's mine you brainless bimbo!_ Her plans were obvious. She was using Naruto to get closer to her raven-haired hottie! _Maybe if I show Sasuke who's better than he'll start paying more attention to me! _She'd have to hang around the girl more often in order to monitor her. She couldn't let her sneak off into the night just to seek out her future husband. She would pretend to be friends with the other girl. Like they say, keep your friends close, and keep your enemies closer.

"Well maybe we can spend some time together," Sakura proposed, straining to keep a friendly tone. The sudden contrast didn't even fool Naruto, much less Katsume. "Maybe we might have some things in common."

"I think, therefore, we have nothing in common," Katsume declared cheerfully. It took a moment for Sakura to actually process that she had been insulted since there had been no malice in the opposing female's voice. By then, Naruto had choked in mortification, Sasuke couldn't resist grinning, and Kakashi almost chuckled but restrained himself, wary of provoking Sakura's unholy screeches.

"Katsume," Naruto hissed beneath his breath, "you're not supposed to reveal yourself to other humans, remember? You're going to get yourself and, most importantly, **_me_** in trouble." Katsume pouted in disappointment but her attention was diverted again by the kunoichi.

"If you're so smart then," Sakura yelled, pointing an accusing finger at the phoenix and towering above the blonde she remained attached to, "I challenge you to a game of shogi!" Shogi was more of Shikamaru's thing than hers, but she knew how to play and could probably whip the bimbo at it.

"I refuse," Katsume declined, "to have a battle of wits with an unarmed person." Naruto made a note to avoid his pink haired teammate for a while, and to have a talk with Neji's summon. Her face reddened in embarrassment and fury. She'd been insulted not once, but twice in front of Sasuke. Now what would he think?

"I'll have you know that I got the highest grades in my class," Sakura bragged, hoping to redeem herself. "Under Sasuke, of course," she added quickly.

"Book smarts and common sense are two different things, sweety. You obviously lack the latter." Ignoring the outraged cries omitted by the other female, Katsume leaned over Naruto's back to whisper in his ear. In the process, she pressed herself even closer to the master. Her breath tickled his ear, and her hair cascaded over his shoulders.

"I'll be leaving for tonight. Neji's sending me on a mission. He suspects that the other masters will be mobilizing soon. Try not to let the chest-less wonder over there pop your ear drums with all that screeching of hers. Maybe we can play a prank on her when I get back." Not even acknowledging that Sakura had again been insulted, Naruto nodded in affirmative and watched as she thanked Kakashi for allowing her to briefly visit her favorite blonde and made her way to the stairs, waving. "And be careful," the phoenix warned before she descended.

Kakashi cocked an eyebrow but said nothing. The cryptic words of the girl could have simply been casual advice for Naruto to look out for himself or a serious plea. Again, a mysterious female implied that Naruto needed protecting from something, and both had done so in the same day. He definitely had to keep a close eye on Naruto, whether he passed the test or not.

Sasuke observed his male teammate, paying no heed to the angry embarrassed girl. His eyes narrowed on the staircase as he realized something.

How could she possibly just "notice her favorite blonde around" when they were on the roof?

XoXoXoXoXoXoX

That boy from before, the creepy one that passed him on his way home the day before he was drawn into all of this mess.

He was back.

The day had gone by without further event. He met up with his team, his other two teammates irritable for Kakashi's lateness (he was even later than Naruto). After being warned about the next day's test and advised not to eat, he decided to relax and stay as far away from the ramen stand to avoid temptation.

Neji eventually joined him, deciding that he too had nothing else better to do, and Mizurei as well since she insisted it was her duty to protect him.

Which led to the arrival of the creepy, gourd-carrying boy just as he was about to return to his apartment.

His red hair was matted to his forehead, a small maniacal smile plastered on his face. The forehead protector he wore revealed that he was a Sand nin.

"Good evening. This is the second time that we've met," the boy rasped.

Neji stiffened slightly. "This is not good," he told Naruto. "Katsume is not here, and that thing is way out of your league."

Naruto observed the "thing", ignoring the new insult. The first three summons he had seen were usually in their human form. But this one; his demonic form was transparent and unseen by what could be any outside spectators. It was huge! Taller than the tree line in fact! The beast resembled a fat raccon dog, the tanuki summon with beady yellow eyes and one single tail. The strangest thing about him was that the master didn't bother to order the summon to solidify itself.

"My name is Gaara," the Sand shinobi introduced.

"Gaara?" Neji heard that name before. He was the ultimate weapon of his village and this explained why. He's a master in the war.

"There's no need for you to introduce yourselves," Gaara said seemingly polite, "since in a few minutes, you'll all be dead."

Naruto growled. The nerve of this guy. He prepared to summon his shadow clones but Mizurei stopped him with a gesture.

"Naruto, stay out of this," she commanded.

"What the hell?!" He ranted. "You want me to be serious as a master, right?! What are you gonna' do, fight him yourself?"

She didn't answer, which in the language of silent dragons, meant yes. He threw his hands up in the air in frustration. Mizurei and Neji would have been better off paired together. This was ridiculous! Her arrogance was going to be her downfall one day. One minute, she tells him that he had to be prepared to fight, the next, she tells him to stay out of the fight.

Gaara, unamused with the antics of the opposing master, finally spoke again, the spiritual form disappearing as he did. "I hope you're ready to die."

The dragon took that as her cue to attack, a katana appearing in her hand as she charged forward.

He'd never seen her weapon before. The hilt was dipped in silver, and the blade glinted dangerously without a scratch or dent on the surface, proof of how well kept it was.

Their opponent remained immobile. Seemingly unfazed by the oncoming dragon. Where was his summon?

Mizurei slashed at Gaara, the wind from the attack whipping about them. Naruto cheered. She'd gotten a blow without conflict.

"Don't start celebrating now idiot," Neji growled, the veins near his eyes strained. Naruto wondered what was wrong with them before he focused his own where his rival's were trained.

Mizurei struggled to pierce the arm that Gaara defended himself with. It was encased by the arm of what he recognized as his summon's arm.

"His summon isn't merely fighting for him," Neji observed in dismay. "It's merging with him to protect him as well. That should be impossible!"

Gaara swept Mizurei's katana aside with the arm that parried the blow, following it up with a slash to her mid section. She leapt over the arm and dodged another swipe sloppily as he doggedly pursued her with attack after attack. More of his summon's features were taking over his body and his calm demeanor gave way to the savage bloodthirsty one before them.

Naruto anxiously watched as Mizurei gave all of her effort into simply defending herself. She wasn't getting any attacks in!

"Mizurei!" The experience was a humbling one all right. Perhaps Neji wasn't insulting him earlier. This master was losing all sense of self to his summon. With each part that caved under the replacement armor provided by the summon, the opposing master became more feral and determined to maul the dragon. And he wasn't sure how long Mizurei would last trying to protect herself from the constant assault. Even as the supposed strongest summon, Mizurei was clearly at a disadvantage.

A jagged sword appeared in his clawed hand, made of rocky material as though he had simply broken a piece of concrete and made a handle for him to hold.

"His sword is gigantic!" Neji stated, equally unsettled by the coveted summon's failing efforts. "He's swinging it around like a toy!"

And perhaps that was how both master and summon viewed the war. Like a game. The disgusting smile remained etched on his face as their attacker literally drooled in anticipation of his victory. They weren't being taken seriously.

Meanwhile, Mizurei ducked under another swipe, this time avoiding the large weapon the summon now wielded. She gritted her teeth and sidestepped another. He was aiming to dislodge her head undoubtedly. She leapt away from yet another swipe and ran up the trunk of a tall tree, applying chakra to her feet while she used her katana to soften the blow of yet another attack. Her arms burned with the effort of holding him back. She fought him off, still defying the laws of gravity on the side of the tree that groaned under the pressure of the two fighters.

Opening his mouth, the unidentified summon shot a ball of sand that forced the trunk to crack and cave in. Mizurei lost her balance and slammed into the trunk of another tree when a second bullet caught her in the chest.

The summon struck the ground with his sword, the ground splitting as blades of wind cut the surface. Mizurei leapt up just in time to avoid the strike, retaliating with a battle cry as she brought her weapon overhead to strike him from above. The momentum of her descent forced her opponent to brace himself and defend with the unoccupied arm.

He swatted her away, and she landed with a backflip. Immediately, she fell to a knee as pain ripped through her chest which she clutched at.

Naruto gasped in realization. The sand bullet must have done more damage than they had thought. "She's hurt," he whispered to himself.

"Mizurei!" Distracted, she turned to look at him, horrified to see him dash toward her. Neji followed, grabbing his shoulder to keep him from stupidly trying to enter the battle. He flung four kunai knife at the beast to deter him from the fallen dragon.

Not even a scratch marred the surface.

"What the hell is that thing's body made of?" Naruto wondered. "It's impenetrable!"

"This is hopeless." Neji said. "Get out of there now, Mizurei!"

She ignored him, the main reasons being that she refused to take orders from someone that wasn't her master and that this summon obviously wouldn't stop until they were dead.

Again, Mizurei got up and dodged a blow to her side, her katana posed to slice his stomach. Quickly, he brought the weapon up and around, building power through momentum. This time, it ripped into her side and flung her away. Her vision bled into red. She grunted in pain as she hit the ground with a thump and rolled to her stomach.

"Come on, Mizurei, get up!" Naruto urged.

The dragon struggled to her knees, using the katana for her support. Blood seeped through her clothes from the wound on her side and dripped down her face from where her head was damaged. Her eyes, instead of crystal blue, were crimson red and were forcefully kept open. Only one blow, and already, she looked as though she would collapse.

In her state, there was no way she could continue to fight. Looking at her, Naruto was reminded of how young she actually was, especially compared to the summon before them. In dragon years, she was no older than him. But her maturity and cold attitude kept him from acknowledging that.

Again, he ran to help her, but this time, she herself stopped him with a gesture of her hand. She rose to her feet, the katana serving as a crutch to hold her up. As much pain as she was in, even she couldn't move. Not even the strongest class of summon could hold her own in a fight when she lacked the experience brought by age and brute strength that the other did.

_Mizurei, you can't fight anymore. _Her blood ran in small rivulets down the blade of her sword. Her fangs pierced her lower lip as she bit down on it hard, adding more blood to the torrent falling to the ground.

"You're not going to win this," Gaara told them, his raspy voice replaced with a guttural growl. "My summon, Shukaku, isn't your average one."

"He is a tailed demon, similar to the one that attacked this very village years ago."

Naruto stiffened at that. Tailed demon? Like the one sealed in side of him? Could it be that this master was . . .

"And I am its vessel."

"Your summon is sealed inside of your body? Impossible!" Neji couldn't fathom that a tailed demon had joined the fray and apparently it couldn't be "killed" like the others could. The only way to kill it would be to kill the master which would not be a walk in the park considering the way the summon fought. It fought _**through**_ his master! Which explained why it didn't have a true solid form. If it was sealed inside of the body, only its spiritual from would be able to escape it. He didn't even think it possible that a demon, let alone a summon, could be sealed inside of a human.

"And now to finish her off." Neji and Naruto were reminded of Mizurei's vulnerability. "She'll only regenerate, so I'll just chop off her head and put her out of her misery."

Mizurei clutched at her weapon, trembling in the effort to get up and defend herself.

Naruto started, about to run to her aid but stopped. _No, I can't. It's her battle, and I can't get hurt if she's to stay alive. It's not right._ Sweat dripped down the side of his head as he watched the other poising to attack. Even now he was toying with them, allowing them to squirm in fear as he purposefully allowed them to anticipate their demise. Mizurei still fought to get up.

The sight brought out Naruto's rage. _I don't care. Screw the damn rules!_

Finally, the possessed master brought down his sword to end her existence in the mortal realm. Naruto quickly formed seals shouting, "**Shadow Clone Jutsu!**" Immediately the clones took the blow intended for him as a startled Mizurei, her eyes fading back to their original hue, was shoved out of harm's way by the real Naruto.

The sword passed through all of the clones and finally caught the real Naruto, defenseless having protected Mizurei. He cried out as the sword ripped through his own side, his blood staining the grass beneath them.

Pain forgotten, Mizurei sat up from the area Naruto pushed her. "Naruto?" When he didn't respond, she panicked. "Naruto!"

Neji was speechless, his mouth agape but nothing coming out.

Gaara, after realizing what exactly Naruto had done, was troubled enough to lose his Shukaku induced form. What could he possibly have gained from defending Mizurei. Why did he care enough to do it in the first place. Alive he still was, but barely. He could've been killed for his foolishness and Mizurei would have followed right after him as a result.

"Why did he do that?" He demanded of noone in particular.

By speaking, Mizurei was reminded of their audience, and she tensed, glaring at the offender and preparing to attack again if the need arose.

But Gaara was too befuddled over Naruto's actions to care. Despite being at a clear advantage, Shukaku was riled up enough to take more control over him if he were to allow him to fight again. The demon would go at all means to spill more blood now. He couldn't allow things to go too much out of control. He'd end up going after the village next.

And he needed to ponder over why Naruto did what he did. The blonde could have saved himself and ran away. Of course that would be cowardly, and he would have chased after him regardless, but it still didn't make any sense.

Gaara's developing headache would not leave him until Shukaku was satisfied with some amount of blood. He knew that the one who really claimed the title of master was the demon.

"Just to be clear, the next time we meet on master's terms, you're dead," he said addressing Mizurei, the unconscious Naruto, and Neji. Gaara did not feel like entertaining himself anymore that night it seemed. Just as he had come, the Sand-nin left silently, the spirit form of Shukaku snarling at both his master and the victims whose blood he was denied before it disappeared completely.

The Hyuuga warily watched him leave. The minute the other master was out of his line of sight, he rounded on the unconscious Naruto. "What were you thinking running in there like that!" He yelled as though the blonde could hear. "You idiot! Did you really think you were going to be able to save her?!"

XoXoXoXoXoXoX

"Naruto? Wow, you make trouble _**and**_ get into it a lot, don't you?"

The feeling of Deja Vu crept over him as he woke up the next morning, Neji glaring at him again. Instead of his bruised stomach bothering him, his side was, though it ached more then hurt since he had a lot more time to recover. Katsume was the one who spoke rather than Neji.

He didn't remember going to sleep last night. And why was his side bothering him in the first place?

"Well, how about I finish making breakfast?" Katsume leapt off the bed leaving Neji alone with Naruto who struggled to remember what happened the night before.

"Why is it that you're always here when I wake up, Neji?"

He rose his eyebrow at that since one, he'd only been with Naruto twice after he woke up, and two, it was a weird conversation starter, even for the idiot.

"Don't I at least deserve some gratitude for carrying you home again, Naruto? I can't keep being generous to you. The last time I checked, we were still enemies." The older boy was disturbed by the bewildered look on the younger's face.

"You. . . carried me?" Naruto searched his memory for what happened the previous night. Scratching his head in thought. He lifted the sheets on his bed revealing his lower body which was bandaged. He was still wearing his bloodied pants which stirred the images of last night's encounter.

"Now I remember! We were attacked by that other master!"

"Your wounds healed on their own."

Naruto flinched. Iruka, at one point, sat down and explained to him that because of Kyuubi, his chakra and healing abilities were abnormally high in level. He hoped that Neji didn't ask him why he'd healed so quickly or make that connection.

"From what I can tell, Mizurei has the ability to regenerate as well. Perhaps your body has found a way to tap into that being that you are bonded to her by contract."

Naruto was relieved that Neji drew his own conclusion.

"Still," Neji insisted, Naruto tensing again, "it's theoretically impossible for a summon to transfer any form of chakra or ability to their master, even if they wanted it."

"You found a lot of things "impossible" that seemed to be true last night," the blonde teased.

Neji lazily glared at him again. "Then again," he proposed, his voice low, "you **_are_** the impossible master."

"What's that supposed to mean," Naruto growled.

"Masters don't put their own life on the line to save their summons. That doesn't make sense. Think about it, Naruto, if you die, Mizurei loses her chance to win the war. Then she'll make sure to haunt you in the afterlife."

"Mizurei!" At the mention of her name he instantly worried for her. She wasn't in the best condition last night either. And Neji still didn't explain what happened to Gaara. "Where is she?! Is she okay?!"

"Oh, stop worrying about her and eat," Katsume fussed, stuffing a piece of toast into his mouth. "She's a big girl that can handle herself. Besides, don't you have something to do today?"

Last night made him realize that Mizurei wasn't as "big" a girl as he once thought. But if Katsume wasn't worried, and Neji still considered him an enemy, then that meant she was okay, right?

She stuffed another piece of toast in his mouth before he protested, remembering Kakashi's advise to them the day before.

"No! I can't eat! I have that survival test todaaaaay!"

"What does that have to do with eating? You can still eat and go," Katsume told him, making sure he chewed and swallowed.

"Since you seem to have a busy schedule, I'll take my leave." Neji left his favored area on the floor, opening the door to leave. He had many things to think about, including Naruto's ability to heal quickly, and Gaara's ability to merge with and imprison his summon.

"A word of advice," Neji said grimly. "You have to stop thinking of us - shinobi, masters, and summons alike - as human beings, Uzumaki."

XoXoXoXoXoXoX

* * *

I've finally introduced Gaara as a master! YAAAAY! Anyway, for those of you who have questions, I prefer that you ask them via private message, but if you can't, review of course! I won't guarantee that I'll answer since some answers may give away the plot, but I'll do my best!. 

**REMEMBER! I don't like rude responses to my writing, so please be respectful!**

**Notes**

I know what you're all thinking. If Shukaku is a summon, then . . . My answer to that is . . . maaaaaaybe . . .

Uh-oh! Neji has met up with a demon vessel. Will he make the connection to Naruto?

It seems that Mizurei may have been affiliated with someone in the village prior to Itachi's massacre. Keep your eyes peeled; I'll continue giving hints as to who.

Also, Mizurei is not as powerful as once thought and she herself will explain that in Chapter 6.

Katsume - tsume claw/ talon/ nail

**_Again, I apologize for the long wait. PLEASE REVIEW!_**


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